Blue Jays 9, Royals 5
Colby Rasmus hit two home runs and recorded four RBIs as visiting Toronto won for the second straight night and handed Kansas City its ninth straight loss.
Rasmus hit a go-ahead two-run homer to deep right in the sixth and rocked a solo shot in the seventh, improving the Blue Jays to 4-1 on the road.
Edwin Encarnacion also homered in the seventh with a two-run bomb. Both he and Rasmus delivered RBIs in a four-run fourth in which the Blue Jays hit five straight singles to chase starter Luis Mendoza.
Drew Hutchison (1-0) picked up a win in his MLB debut, giving up five runs on eight hits while striking out four over 5 1/3 innings.
J.P. Arencibia went 2-for-4 with a RBI single. He’s 6-for-11 with four RBIs in the last three games.
Eric Hosmer's two-run home run highlighted a four-run fifth for Kansas City, which is mired in its longest skid since dropping 10 in a row in July 2010.
Alex Gordon opened the scoring with a solo home run to center in the first. He finished 2-for-4 and extended his hitting streak to five games.
Yuniesky Betancourt went 2-for-5, including an RBI single in the fifth. Alcides Escobar finished a perfect 4-for-4.
Mendoza went just 3 1/3 innings, serving up four runs on 10 hits. Reliever Everett Teaford (0-1) didn’t fare much better, allowing three runs on two hits in three innings.
GAME NOTEBOOK: The addition of Hutchison gives Toronto the youngest rotation in the majors (average age 24). … Kansas City hit for the cycle in the fifth inning. … The bottom three of the Blue Jays’ order went 7-for-12 with five RBIs.