ALCS Game 1: Royals tame Blue Jays’ bats in 5-0 win
The Kansas City Royals opened the ALCS with a 5-0 win over the Toronto Blue Jays behind a terrific outing from starter Edinson Volquez and opportunistic hitting.
The Royals scored two runs off Blue Jays starter Marco Estrada in the third and Salvador Perez made it 3-0 with a solo shot to left-center field in the fourth. They added a couple insurance runs in the eighth off LaTroy Hawkins and comfortably took a 1-0 series lead as Kansas City’s pitching held Toronto’s booming offense in check.
• Taking into account the stakes and the team he was up against, there’s no doubt this was Volquez’s best start of the season. He threw his fastball harder than usual, consistently hitting 96-97 mph, and mixed in his breaking ball to great effect. He ran into some trouble in the sixth, walking the first two batters he faced, but got out of the inning by retiring the next three Blue Jays that came up to the plate, striking out two of them.
• After Volquez came out of the game, the Royals bullpen came in and did their thing. Kelvin Herrera had a perfect seventh, Ryan Madson put a couple on but worked a scoreless eighth and Luke Hochevar finished the job in the ninth.
• Shortstop Alcides Escobar isn’t known for his bat, but he was a catalyst at the top of the Royals order, smacking two doubles, scoring two runs and driving in another.
• On an uncharacteristically quiet night for the Blue Jays’ offense, Ryan Goins hit a single in the fifth to snap a 0-for-18 streak in the postseason. He also had a fantastic flip on the run right in front of second base to start a double play in the sixth that saved a run.
• It wasn’t a great for any hitter in Toronto’s lineup by any stretch, but Troy Tulowitzki stands out above the rest, going 0-for-4 with two strikeouts and leaving three runners on the bases. With two runners on, two outs and a 3-2 count in the sixth, he stared at a Volquez fastball right down the middle to go down looking and let the Royals off the hook.
• Edwin Encarnacion went 0-for-3 and also left three runners stranded. He was removed from the game for a pinch-hitter in the eighth with a hand injury. Earlier this season, Encarnacion sat out a few games due to a sore finger on his left hand.
After walking Josh Donaldson and Jose Bautista to start the sixth, Volquez was able to get through the inning by striking out Encarnacion, getting Chris Colabello to fly out to left and sit Tulowitzki down looking. It was Toronto’s best shot to score and they couldn’t take advantage.
It’s an old sports cliche, but it definitely rings true in this one: Volquez took it to another level on the mound.
That extra heat put him in position to do something never done by a Royals pitcher.
• Can the Royals’ bullpen be beat? It was another strong night for Kansas City’s relievers, and they didn’t even have to use closer Wade Davis. Five or six solid innings from their starters and a couple runs from their offense is often more than enough to secure a win. That was certainly the case Friday.
• Encarnacion’s health. Even a lineup as deep as Toronto’s doesn’t want to lose their cleanup hitter. An MRI revealed he’s dealing with a strained middle finger on his left hand and his status for Game 2 remains unclear.
Game 2 from Kansas City is set for Saturday at 4 p.m. ET on FS1 and Sportsnet. Blue Jays ace David Price (18-5, 2.45) makes his first start since Game 1 of the ALDS – he pitched three innings in relief in Game 4 – while 24-year-old right-hander Yordano Ventura (13-8, 4.08) goes for the Royals.
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Israel Fehr is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter. Follow @israelfehr
