A one-inning burst lifted the Toronto Blue Jays over the Kansas City Royals, with Nathan Lukes' homer breaking the deadlock and the bullpen carrying the shutout the rest of the way.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| KC | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| TOR | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | X | 3 | 0 | 0 |
Lukes supplied the game's defining swing, turning a scoreless contest into a Toronto advantage with one powerful drive. Toronto's relief corps then kept Kansas City off the board, with Louie Varland closing the game.
In the fourth, Nathan Lukes homered on a fly ball to right-center field, bringing Jesús Sánchez and Kazuma Okamoto home. The blast gave Toronto its lead and stood as the final go-ahead play.
Kansas City's starter took the loss after allowing Toronto's breakthrough, while the Royals could not answer against Toronto's succession of relievers. Mason Fluharty, Paul Sewald and Tyler Rogers helped preserve the margin before Varland finished the ninth.
Toronto's one-inning burst ended the night as a clean, controlled win, leaving Kansas City searching for an answer that never came.
Toronto Blue Jays defeated Kansas City Royals, 3-0.
- Nathan Lukes went 1-for-3 with 1 home run, 3 RBIs and 1 run scored (batting .264 on the season).
- Kazuma Okamoto went 0-for-2 with 1 run scored (batting .228 on the season).
- (gpid=sa:677976) allowed 3 runs on 6 hits over 6.0 innings, striking out 5, and took the loss (0-1) (1.92 ERA).
- Louie Varland allowed 0 runs on 2 hits over 1.1 innings, striking out 1, and closed it out for the save (30) (1.20 ERA).
Toronto Blue Jays improved to 65-69; Kansas City Royals fell to 59-75.