Adam Lind and Emilio Bonifacio also drove in two runs each for the Toronto Blue Jays, who hammered the Royals’ Luis Mendoza (0-1) for eight runs, seven earned, in just 5.2 innings as the Royals four game win streak ended with an 8-4 loss Friday night.
Toronto struck in the first J.P. Arencibia’s single to left and a double by Lind down the right-field line gave the Blue Jays a 2-0 lead. The Royals came back with three in the bottom half off starter J.A Happ. Salvador Perez’s single to right drove in the first run. Happ loaded the bases and Lorenzo Cain hit the first pitch he saw to center field to give Kansas City a 3-2 lead.
Bonifacio pulled the Blue Jays back ahead in the second when he doubled off the wall in right to drive in a run and headed for third on the throw to the plate, then scored when Perez threw the ball down the left-field line. It was the catcher’s second error of the game. Lind delivered a sacrifice fly in the third to extend the Blue Jays’ lead, but Alcides Escobar’s double in the fifth pulled the Royals back to within 5-4.
Bonifacio’s two-out double in the sixth gave Toronto its two-run lead again. Luke Hochevar came in to relieve Mendoza, and Reyes followed with a two-run single to make the score 8-4.