Page 19 - atoday

SPORTS A19
Wednesday 21 October

Royals rout Blue Jays 14-2, 1 win from World Series return

BY HOWIE RUMBERG

AP BASEBALL WRITER

TORONTO (AP) -- Ben Zobrist

and the relentless Kansas

City Royals showed they

can play home run derby,

too. And with one more

win, they’ll have a chance

to show off their power in a

return trip to the World Se-

ries.

Zobrist hit a two-run hom-

er on knuckleballer R.A.

Dickey’s fourth pitch of

the game, Alex Rios con-

nected an inning later and

the Royals romped past the

Toronto Blue Jays 14-2 Tues-

day for a 3-1 lead in the

American League Champi-

onship Series.

Lorenzo Cain scored on

a passed ball and Mike

Moustakas had a sacrifice

fly in an LCS-record four-run

top of the first.

Alcides Escobar had four

RBIs and Cain drove in

three runs as the Royals

bounced back from an Kansas City Royals’ Lorenzo Cain scores past Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher R.A. Dickey on a passed ball during the first inning in
Game 4 of baseball’s American League Championship Series on Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2015, in Toronto.
11-8 loss Monday. Kansas

City led 5-2 in the seventh

before breaking away. three more sacrifice flies, a the 6-foot-10 Young was former team in the second added an RBI grounder to
barrage of slashing hits and lifted one out shy of qualify- for a 5-0 lead. After Dickey close the gap to 5-2 and
Blue Jays infielder Cliff Pen- heads-up baserunning. ing for a victory when Ned hit Escobar with a pitch - a get those white towels twirl-
Blue Jays fans had seen Yost went to his bullpen call that needed replay ing at Rogers Centre.
nington relieved in the enough after Cain’s two- with a runner on first with review to get it right - he But Luke Hochevar, Ryan
run single in the eighth, two outs in the fifth. Yost walked Cain one out later Madson, Kelvin Herrera and
ninth inning, becoming the turning their ever-optimistic wasn’t willing to take any and was done after 1 2-3 Franklin Morales shut down
cheers to jeers when Mark chances against Josh Don- innings. the Blue Jays the rest of the
first primarily position player Lowe replaced Ryan Mad- aldson, who already had Young used that steep arm way.
son. a ground-rule double that angle to outwit the power- Kansas City’s four-spot in
to pitch in the postseason, The 36-year-old Chris cut Toronto’s deficit to 5-2. ful Jays, who were 53-28 at the seventh to made it 9-2.
Young bested Dickey, 40, in Dickey never had a chance home in the regular season Escobar and Hosmer had
STATS said. Greeted by a bookish matchup of vet- to get that first playoff vic- but just 11-14 with the roof sacrifice flies to deep cen-
eran starters - only the pair- tory in a 13-year big league closed - which it was Tues- ter, Cain singled to extend
cheers, he allowed two hits ing of the Yankees’ Randy career. day. his postseason hitting streak
Johnson and Detroit’s Ken- Escobar got a hit leading He held them hitless until to 13 games and Alex Gor-
and got one out. ny Rogers in the 2006 ALDS off for the fourth straight Ryan Goins’ one-out sin- don scored on Ryan Te-
tops the duo for combined game, starting this one with gle in the third. Donaldson pera’s wild pitch.
Kansas City can win the age. a bunt down the third-base drove him home with a Cain hit a two-run single in
But just like his counterpart’s line. Zobrist connected for ground-rule double down the eighth, and Escobar
pennant Wednesday, effort in Game 4 of the Divi- his first homer of the ALCS. the left-field line on an 83 drove in two off Pennington
sion Series against Texas, Rios homered against his mph slider. Jose Bautista in the ninth.q
when Edinson Volquez

starts against Toronto’s

Marco Estrada in a Game 1

rematch.

After flashing power to

build a 5-0 lead on the long

ball, the Royals returned

to their pesky ways late in

the game against the Blue

Jays’ struggling bullpen.

They scored nine runs with