*Photo from Sportsnaut*
They were undefeated coming in. Not anymore. Whit Merrifield doubled in a run, Yusei Kikuchi shined on the mound, and the Toronto Blue Jays defeated the Kansas City Royals with a 5-2 victory on Saturday afternoon in Toronto.
To begin the series, the Rays were 13-0, the only undefeated team in baseball. They've now lost two straight as the Blue Jays have won the series. This time, it was the pitching of Kikuchi and timely hitting from the lineup that got things done for the Blue Jays, who are 8-2 in their last 10 games.
Kikuchi handled 6 innings, getting the win to improve to 2-0 on the season. Kikuchi allowed one run on 4 hits while racking up 9 strikeouts. Erik Swanson pitched a scoreless 7th inning before Adam Cimber worked the 8th, allowing a run. Jordan Romano picked up the save in the 9th inning.
Blue Jays manager John Schneider said of Kikuchi's performance this season that "I love it. He’s got a different way about him this year than he has in the past. With the work he put in and the spring he had, it’s just carried over a bit. He’s confident. A confident pitcher is a dangerous thing. That’s what he is right now."
In the 3rd inning, Bo Bichette gave the Blue Jays a 1-0 lead on a ground out that scored Kevin Kiermaier. Taylor Walls tied the score for the Rays in the top of the 4th with a solo home run. The Blue Jays took a 3-1 lead in the bottom half thanks to an RBI double by Merrifield and an RBI single from Danny Jansen.
With the bases loaded in the 6th inning, George Springer drew a walk to increase the Blue Jays lead to 4-1. Daulton Varsho then scored on an RBI single from Alejandro Kirk in the 7th inning, pushing the Toronto lead to 5-1. The Rays got a run back in the 8th on a Randy Arozarena groundout. The Blue Jays shut it down after that.
Calvin Faucher got the start for the Rays, allowing one run on one hit and one walk while pitching 2 2/3 innings. Trevor Kelley handled the next two innings, getting the loss on two runs on two hits and a walk. Josh Fleming pitched the final 3 1/3 innings, allowing two runs on 3 hits.
Walls said of the Rays losing two in a row that "We don’t come to the field OK to lose. We hate losing probably more than we love winning, so that’s never the goal. Everybody in the clubhouse is going to come in tomorrow and the last thing on our minds is going to be coming out with a loss."
Up next, the series concludes on Sunday afternoon. The Blue Jays go for the sweep with Alek Manoah starting, while the Rays try to salvage a game with Shane McClanahan on the mound.
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