The Toronto Blue Jays toppled the Kansas City Royals 7-4 on Wednesday night in the rubber match of their three-game series at the Rogers Centre.
Third baseman Troy Glaus led Toronto with a solo home run and two runs batted in, while stopper B.J. Ryan closed the door for his third save of the season.
Toronto's Troy Glaus is tagged out at home in Wednesday's 7-4 win.
(Aaron Harris/Canadian Press)
Toronto took Monday's home opener 9-1, but the Royals rebounded to win 6-3 on Tuesday.
"We are built to score runs," Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said.
Toronto starter Gustavo Chacin earned his first victory, allowing three runs and striking out four in five innings of work.
"If our pitcher keeps us in the game, we'll get a lot of wins," Gibbons said. "Bottom line is he kept himself in there and got himself a win."
Kansas City pitcher Jorge De La Rosa struggled with his control, surrendering four runs and nine hits over 5 2/3 innings.
The Royals kept within striking distance until the bottom of the seventh inning.
With the Jays holding onto a slim 5-4 lead, second baseman Aaron Hill smacked a two-run double to deep right field off reliever Todd Wellenmeyer to score Lyle Overbay and Glaus.
Hill's double killed any momentum the Royals had built through the first six innings.
"We kept scoring, but they kept scoring," Royals manager Buddy Bell said. "We just couldn't get a goose egg up there after we scored a run."
Jays on scoreboard first
Toronto was facing a two-out situation in the second inning when it opened the scoring.
Glaus smashed a double to right off De La Rosa, then advanced to third on Alex Rios's flyout to centre.
Glaus scored after Royals rookie third baseman Alex Gordon committed an error trying to throw out Hill at first.
The Royals tied it 1-1 in the top half of the third as outfielder David DeJesus drilled a Chacin offering over the wall in right for a solo homer.
"It's tough right now," DeJesus said. "We're in a lot of games.
"We've got to fix those little things, make a play here and make a play there. We've got to stay confident, stay together and
be behind each other."
Down but not out
Chacin's problems continued in the fourth when Jason LaRue doubled in Emile Brown, giving the Royals a 2-1 advantage.
The Jays regained their one-run lead in the bottom of the inning on Rios's two-run double that scored Vernon Wells and Frank Thomas.
Rios extended his hitting streak to eight games and is the only Blue Jay with a hit in every game this season.
The Jays increased their advantage to 4-2 in the fifth after Reed Johnson scored following an infield single by Wells.
The Royals cut Toronto's lead to 4-3 one inning later as Ryan Shealy's sacrifice fly brought home Reggie Sanders.
Glaus immediately got that run back for the Jays, hitting his second homer of the season over the left-field wall.
Royals second baseman Esteban German reduced Toronto's lead to 5-4 in the seventh by singling home DeJesus.
With files from the Canadian Press
