Brett Lawrie hit a tiebreaking home run in the seventh inning as Toronto came back from an early 2-0 deficit to beat the Royals 4-3 on Wednesday night.
Jose Batista added his 37th homer, which leads the majors. Meanwhile it was an encouraging and frustrating night for the Royals hitters. They managed to jump out to a 2-0 lead and scored three runs against baseball’s hottest pitcher Ricky Romero. He entered the game with a 5-0 record and a .89 ERA since July 27th.
The Royals however left 11 runners stranded and went 2-14 with runners in scoring position. “We put three runs up on one of the best lefties in the game,” Billy Butler said. “You can’t really say we didn’t try to capitalize on his mistakes. That’s just how it is. Even when he’s off you’re only going to get three and when he’s on you’re going to get none.”
Romero gave up three runs and eight hits in six innings. That was as many earned runs as he had allowed in his previous three starts combined. He walked four and struck out three.
