TORONTO — Salvador Perez drove in a pair of runs and Seth Lugo turned in five effective innings as the Kansas City Royals extended their winning streak to nine games with a 5-3 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays on Tuesday night.
The victory marks Kansas City’s first nine-game winning streak since July 2017.
Lugo (6-7) earned the win in the opener of the three-game series, allowing just one run on six hits while striking out five over five innings of work.
Perez put the Royals on the board early by driving in a run despite grounding into a double play in the first inning. He broke a 1-1 tie in the fifth with a go-ahead RBI single. Kansas City built on the momentum in the sixth, extending the lead with an RBI sacrifice bunt from Kyle Isbel and a sacrifice fly by Carter Jensen.
John Rave provided key insurance in the top of the ninth, driving in a run with a single to extend the lead to 5-1.
Max Scherzer (1-7) took the loss for Toronto, giving up two runs on four hits across five innings. The veteran right-hander struggled with his command, walking five and striking out four while tying his season high with 92 pitches. With the four punchouts, Scherzer sits just nine strikeouts shy of passing Gaylord Perry for ninth place on the all-time MLB strikeout list.
The Blue Jays initially answered Kansas City’s first-inning run when Jesús Sánchez crossed the plate on a sacrifice fly. Toronto mounted a late rally in the bottom of the ninth on a two-run single by Nathan Lukes, but Lukes was thrown out attempting to stretch the hit into a double to end the game.
Injury Update
Royals second baseman Michael Massey exited the game in the fifth inning after striking his head on the turf while attempting a throw.
Up Next
The series continues Wednesday night. Kansas City will send right-hander Randy Dobnak (2-1, 1.58 ERA) to the mound against Toronto righty Spencer Miles (5-2, 3.02 ERA).
