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A32 sports
Diasabra 16 Juli 2022

Royals beat Jays 3-1 with 10 unvaccinated players absent

(AP) — Angel Zerpa pitched five solid in- the restricted list, which means they are not paid tent lineup and kept making good pitches all the
nings, Bobby Witt Jr. hit a tiebreaking homer and do not accrue major league service time. way through. It was just a great display of pitching.”
and the Kansas City Royals overcame the ab-
sence of 10 unvaccinated players to beat the Among the 10 players on Kansas City’s 26-man Jackson Kowar pitched two innings, Taylor Clarke
Toronto Blue Jays 3-1 on Thursday night. roster who stayed home were All-Star outfielder handled the eighth and Scott Barlow finished for
Andrew Benintendi, two-time All-Star Whit Mer- his 16th save in 18 chances.
“One of the best wins of the year, all things consid- rifield, future cornerstones Kyle Isbel and MJ Me-
ered,” manager Mike Matheny said. lendez and outfielder Michael A. Taylor. Eaton’s mother and brother were sitting behind
Kansas City’s first base dugout, giving them a great
Nate Eaton homered in his big league debut as the Also barred were first baseman Hunter Dozier, view of his homer.
Royals won for the fifth time in six games. right-handed starters Brad Keller and Brady Singer,
reliever Dylan Coleman and backup catcher Cam “Right around second base I was jogging and the
Foreign nationals who aren’t vaccinated against Gallagher. only voice I could hear was my mom screaming,”
COVID-19 are not allowed to enter Canada, save Eaton said. “It was awesome. Those are the people
for limited exceptions that require a 14-day quar- “We just abide by the rules that are given to us,” that have been there my entire life and sacrificed
antine. Unvaccinated baseball players are placed on Matheny said before the game. “It’s not how we’d so much for me to get to this point. Without them,
design it but it is where we are and now we move I couldn’t have been here. To make them proud is
forward.” pretty awesome.”
The Royals recalled infielder Nick Pratto and se- Blue Jays right-hander Kevin Gausman (6-7) start-
lected Eaton, infielder Michael Massey, catcher ed for the first time since taking a line drive off his
Freddy Fermin and outfielder Brewer Hicklen ankle in a July 2 start against Tampa Bay. Gausman
from Triple-A Omaha. Infielder Maikel Garcia, allowed two runs and seven hits in six innings. He
catcher Sebastian Rivero and left-hander Zerpa walked two and struck out six.
were recalled from Double-A Northwest Arkansas.
“Great to get him back out there before the (All-
Pratto was in the starting lineup at first base and Star) break,” new Blue Jays manager John Sch-
Eaton was in center field with Rivero catching neider said. “We liked what we saw, obviously. Ev-
Zerpa (2-0), who allowed one run and four hits, erything was there as it usually is. Just a couple bad
walked two and struck out two in the second start pitches.”
of his career and first this season.
Nicky Lopez doubled off Gausman to begin the
“Every time we’ve seen him he looks like a top- fifth and scored on a base hit by Edward Olivares,
shelf starter,” Matheny said. “He came in today who was thrown out trying for a double. Witt fol-
against an all right-handed lineup that’s a very po- lowed with his 13th home run.