Bruce Chen won his fourth consecutive start, striking out nine over seven innings, while being backed by home runs from Eric Hosmer and Billy Butler in the Royals 6-4 win over the Toronto Blue Jays.
Chen (9-5) improved to 4-1 with a 3.68 ERA in five August starts this year. He is 18-9 in 61 career August games, his most wins in any month. He allowed three runs and four hits in 7 2/3 innings. He walked one and matched his career high for strikeouts.
Jeff Francoeur matched his career high with four hits as the Royals, who had lost six of seven away from home, banged out 16 hits to open a 10-game, 10-day road trip.
