The Canadian Press
Neil Davidson
TORONTO—Toronto’s power outage ended last night, allowing the Blue Jays to get one foot out of the hole they had dug for themselves in Kansas City.
Troy Tulowitzki, Josh Donaldson, and Ryan Goins each homered as the Jays battered Royals’ ace Johnny Cueto en route to an 11-8 win that cut Kansas City’s lead to 2-1 in the American League Championship Series.
The Royals, who outhit Toronto 15-11, rallied for four runs in the ninth but it was too little, too late.
“We desperately needed that break-out,” a relieved Jays’ manager John Gibbons said.
“You look at how the game finished up, those runs really came in handy,” he noted.
“It wasn’t an easy game even though we had a big lead.”
The Royals won 5-0 and 6-3 in Kansas City—handcuffing a Jays’ offence that had led the majors in averaging 5.5 runs a game during the regular season.
But the bats came alive in Game 3 in front of a loud sell-out Rogers Centre crowd of 49,751.
Tulowitzki, Donaldson, and Goins combined for nine RBIs on a night where the 11 runs scored set a Toronto franchise record in a home post-season game.
It marked the third time in Jays’ playoff history that the team has scored 10 or more runs. And the three homers matched a franchise single-game playoff mark.
It also was the first time Toronto has won a post-season game when allowing 15 hits.
Apart from the Royals’ rally, the lone sour note was Tulowitzki’s ejection, after taking the field in the eighth, for chirping home plate umpire John Hirschbeck.
The Jays’ shortstop, who had to be held back by bench coach DeMarlo Hale, had just struck out for the second time and wasn’t happy about it.
Neither was the crowd.
“I think it was obvious I didn’t agree with the called third strike. And there were other pitches that were questionable,” said Tulowitzki, who felt the ejection was unwarranted.
“Obviously he’s been an umpire for a long time. He’s a good one at that,” Tulowitzki added.
“And so I am surprised.”
After giving up a run to Kansas City in the first inning, Toronto sent eight men to the plate in the second and nine in the third to build a 9-2 lead.
Goins, who had driven in two earlier runs, made it an even 10 with a solo shot in the fifth after the Royals added two of their own.
Jose Bautista, who turned 35 yesterday, made it 11-4 with an RBI single in the eighth.
But the Royals added two runs on three hits and a sacrifice fly in the ninth off Liam Hendriks—forcing Gibbons to bring in closer Roberto Osuna.
Kendrys Morales then hit a two-run homer to make it interesting.
Osuna pitched despite reports of a broken nail embedded in the middle finger of his pitching hand that was restricting use of his slider.
For Goins, it was an night of redemption after a fielding blunder that opened the door to the Royals’ winning rally in Game 2 on Saturday.
He did damage with the bat and showed off his silky fielding skills.
For Tulowitzki, who still is feeling the effects of a late-season shoulder injury, it was a second-straight successful outing at the plate after a playoff slump.
For Cueto, it simply was a night to forget. He was pulled after giving up four runs in the third when he failed to get out the five hitters he faced.
He retired just six of the 17 batters he faced.
“They just beat me today,” Cueto said through an interpreter.
“I felt great in the bullpen, my pitches were down, I felt great,” he noted.
“When I got into the game, God only knows.”
Cueto gave up eight runs on six hits with four walks, one hit batsman, and two strikeouts in two-plus innings.
He threw 69 pitches, of which only 39 were strikes.
In going down in flames, Cueto set a Royals’ record for runs allowed in a post-season game.
And he became the first pitcher in post-season history to allow at least eight earned runs and 11 base-runners in two or fewer innings pitched, according to ESPN Stats.
“He couldn’t command the ball down. He was up all night long,” said Royals’ manger Ned Yost.
“Just really struggled with his command.
“Got his pitch count up and just couldn’t make an adjustment,” Yost added.
Meanwhile, Jays’ starter Marcus Stroman pitched 6 1/3 innings in a bend-but-don’t-break performance, giving up four runs on 11 hits with one walk and one strikeout.
“It was a battle all day. It was tough,” he said of his first pot-season win. “I definitely didn’t have my best command.
“I felt like I was getting into advantage counts and my off-speed, I wasn’t able to put them away,” he noted.
“I was leaving some off-speed up in the zone.”
Aaron Sanchez, Mark Lowe, Hendriks, and Osuna pitched the rest of the way.
Jays’ knuckleballer R.A. Dickey faced Chris Young in Game 4 this afternoon.
“We’re going to have to come out tomorrow [Tuesday] and play just as good, if not better, because you see the quality of team they have over there,” said Donaldson.
“They don’t stop until the 27th out. They’re tough,” he stressed.
Yost took solace from reliever Kris Medlen’s five-inning outing, which allowed him to rest other key bullpen members for the coming games.
“Now we’ve got two more games here, we can go ahead and pour the coals on them,” Yost said.
