Blue Jays 3, Royals 2
Adam Lind hit a two-run single and Mark Buehrle tossed seven scoreless innings as host Toronto edged Kansas City.
Buehrle (11-7) continued his second-half mastery, holding the Royals to four hits while striking out five. Two relievers bridged the gap to Casey Janssen, who worked around a pair of singles in the ninth to nail down his 25th save.
Ervin Santana (8-8) allowed three runs - two earned - on four hits over seven innings as the Royals fell seven games behind Oakland for the second American League wild-card spot.
A first-inning throwing error by second baseman Emilio Bonifacio - who joined the Royals in a trade with Toronto earlier this month - allowed the Blue Jays to open the scoring. Ryan Goins reached on the gaffe, Edwin Encarnacion followed with a double and both players came around to score on Lind's single up the middle.
Toronto padded its lead in the fifth as Anthony Gose hit a leadoff triple and scored on Goins' hard grounder to third that Mike Moustakas couldn't handle. The Royals responded with a pair of runs in the eighth on Bonifacio's RBI sacrifice bunt and Eric Hosmer's run-scoring single to left field, but Sergio Santos came on to get a pair of groundouts and end the threat.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Buehrle is 6-1 with a 2.14 ERA in nine starts since the All-Star break. ... Bonifacio is 9-for-9 in stolen-base attempts with Kansas City after going just 12-for-18 with Toronto. ... Janssen has converted his last seven save chances.