By Fred Liggett
FredL@lstribune.net
The Kansas City Royals, winners of nine of the team’s first 12 games following the All-Star break, felt confident coming home for a seven-game home stand. The Royals four-game series with AL Central Division rival Cleveland didn’t go very well as they only were able to win one of them.
This week started with the Royals getting away from the Central Division and hosting the Toronto Blue Jays in the final three games of the home stand. Monday night saw the Blue Jays club three home runs off Royals starter Brad Keller in 7-3 decision. The long ball activity by the road team was the first time Keller had given up three in a single game. Tuesday night the Royals hosted their next to last T-Shirt Tuesday night game of the 2019 season. The first 10,000 fans through the gates were given blue t-shirts that said “One Royal Way” on them which is the working address at the home of the Royals. A special theme ticket package was also made available by the team where a portion of the sales went to help the IAAF #42.
The first inning on Tuesday saw the Blue Jays get on the board thanks to a pair of RBI singles. The quick 2-0 lead by the visitors was it for a while as Royals starter Mike Montgomery settled down and Blue Jays starter Sean Reid-Foley who was just recalled by the Blue Jays earlier in the day kept the Royals from scoring. The Blue Jays scored two more in the fifth to double their lead to 4-0. The Blue Jays returned to long ball celebrations on Tuesday when Vladimir Guerrero, Jr.’s 402 foot Grand slam in the top of the ninth gave them a 9-1 lead. The Royals thanks to a pair of RBI doubles got on the board but lost the game 9-2.
Wednesday saw the two teams play a day game to finish up the three-game series. The Royals got a better pitching performance from starter Jakob Junis but the bats didn’t fare well as they lost 4-1 allowing the Blue Jays to sweep the series. The Royals home stand finished a disappointing 1-6. Following a day off Thursday the Royals hit the road this weekend to play Minnesota Twins. The three-game set with the Twins will be followed by three in Boston and finally the road trip ends with a four-game series against division rival Detroit. As the Royals head north to the Twin Cities they remain in fourth place in the American League Central Division with a 40-70 record five games ahead of the Detroit Tigers.
