Royals jump out to 2-0 ALCS lead with 6-3 victory over the Blue Jays - MLB

The never-say-die Royals hung a five-spot on the Blue Jays in a laborious bottom of the seventh inning, providing all of the offense they would need to come back and win in Game 2 of the ALCS. The Royals will travel to Toronto to continue the ALCS with a 2-0 lead.

The Blue Jays opened the scoring in the top of the third inning when Ryan Goins brought in a run with a double to left field off of Royals starter Yodano Ventura. The Jays tacked on two more in the sixth on an Edwin Encarnacion RBI single and a Troy Tulowitzki RBI double. Ventura was chased with one out in the sixth, finishing having allowed the three runs on eight hits and two walks with six strikeouts.

Jays starter David Price was dominating over his first six innings. He allowed a single to Alcides Escobar to lead off the bottom of the first, but then retired the next 18 batters he faced to set a Blue Jays post-season record. However, leading off the bottom of the seventh, the Royals benefited from a miscommunication between second baseman Goins and right fielder Jose Bautista, allowing a Ben Zobrist pop-up to land. The Royals would add three more singles and a double to score four runs and chase Price from the game with two outs in the sixth. Reliever Aaron Sanchez allowed another RBI single before completing the frame. Price, over 6 2/3 innings, was on the hook for five runs on six hits and no walks with eight strikeouts.

Royals reliever Kelvin Herrera worked around a one-out Chris Colabello double, recording two strikeouts in a scoreless eighth inning. Moustakas added more insurance with an RBI single to right field in the bottom of the eighth to make it 6-3.

In the ninth, closer Wade Davis allowed a single and a walk to lead off the inning, but he struck out Ben Revere and Josh Donaldson before Jose Bautista flied out to right field to end the game. The Royals are two games away from advancing to the World Series for a second year in a row.

The two clubs will have an off-day on Sunday. The ALCS resumes at 7:00 PM EDT on Monday for Game 3 at the Rogers Centre in Toronto, with Johnny Cueto starting for the Royals against Marcus Stroman for the Blue Jays.

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CHICAGO (AP) Shohei Ohtani homered in consecutive innings, including a 459-foot drive that was the longest of his Major League Baseball career, and drove in four runs to lead the Los Angeles Angels over the Chicago White Sox 12-5 Wednesday.

Mike Trout put the Angels ahead 2-0 with a 476-foot home run in the first that was four rows shy of clearing the left field bleachers. Taylor Ward also went deep as the Angels hit four two-run homers plus a solo shot.

“Those are the guys you lean on,” manager Phil Nevin said. “They can certainly put the team on their backs and carry us and that’s what they did today.”

Ohtani drove a first-pitch fastball from Lance Lynn (4-6) just to left of straightaway center in the third, where the ball was dropped by a fan who tried to glove it. That 425-foot drive put the Angels ahead 4-1.

Lynn didn’t even bother to turn and look when Ohtani hit a full count fastball more than a dozen rows over the bullpen in right-center in the fourth. The two-way Japanese star is batting .269 with 15 homers and 38 RBIs to go along with a 5-1 record and 2.91 ERA.

“I’m feeling good right now,” Ohtani said through a translator. “I’m putting good swings on pitches I should be hitting hard.”

Ohtani increased his career total to 13 multihomer games with his first this season.

Trout pulled a hanging curve for his 13th home run. Ward hit a two-run homer against Jesse Scholtens in the seventh and Chad Wallach, pinch hitting for Ohtani, had a solo homer in the ninth off Garrett Crochet.

“Usually when that happens, we’re in a good spot to win,” Trout said.

Trout and Ohtani have homered in the same game for the fifth time this season. The Angels hit a pair of 450-foot or more home runs in the same game for the first time since Statcast started tracking in 2015.

Lynn allowed eight runs, eight hits and two walks while hitting two batters in four innings, raising his ERA to 6.55. He has given up 15 home runs, one short of the major league high of Kansas City’s Jordan Lyles. Lynn had won his previous three starts.

“It seemed like he didn’t get away with any today,” manager Pedro Grifol said. “Just one of those days, man.”

Jaime Barria (2-2) gave up one run and four hits in five innings with six strikeouts and two walks.

Los Angeles won two of three from the White Sox after being swept by Miami last weekend.

Jake Burger homered for Chicago, which has lost four of five. Burger hit his 11th homer in the ninth and Hanser Alberto had a two run double off Tucker Davidson.

Chicago’s Romy Gonzalez, who’d homered in three straight games, went 0 for 4 with two strikeouts.

THE NATURALS

Twenty-three people became naturalized U.S. citizens during a pregame swearing-in behind home plate.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Angels: Trout fouled a pitch off his right leg in the fourth but remained in the game.

White Sox: INF Elvis Andrus (strained left oblique) and RHP Mike Clevinger (right wrist inflammation) are close to returning but Grifol wouldn’t elaborate on either player’s status.

UP NEXT

Angels: Reid Detmers (0-4, 4.93) starts Thursday’s series opener at Houston against fellow LHP Framber Valdez (5-4, 2.38).

White Sox: Have not announced a starter for Friday’s series opener against visiting Detroit, which starts RHP Reese Olson in his major league debut. Olson is 2-3 with a 6.38 ERA in 10 starts at Triple-A Toledo.

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