Final
Vernon Wells homers, Blue Jays beat Royals 4-3
Apr 21, 2010 - 3:17 AM TORONTO(AP) -- John Buck's decisive hit didn't even travel 90 feet - and that was just fine with him."I'll take it," a smiling Buck said of his swinging bunt that snapped an 0-for-15 slump. "However I get them, I'll take them. It's hard enough to hit in this league."
Vernon Wells homered, Buck drove in the go-ahead run against former teammate Kyle Davies, and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Kansas City Royals 4-3 Tuesday night.
So will Buck, who signed with Toronto this winter after six seasons in Kansas City, do a little exaggerating about his key hit when he relives the moment?
"Of course," he said. "Especially to Kyle's kids."
Wells went 3 for 4 with two doubles and scored twice, raising his average to .364.
"You can't mess up to him," Royals manager Trey Hillman said. "We know there's a lot of power in the bat and you've got to make sure you hit your spots."
It was the 737th RBI of Wells' career, moving him past Joe Carter for third on the Toronto list.
"It's cool," Wells said, "but Joe has a number that none of us in this clubhouse has and that's two World Series rings."
Lyle Overbay, who bats behind Wells, has been watching closely from the on-deck circle and said his teammate seems more relaxed at the plate this season.
"Last year he kept pressing, kept trying to hit the ball 600 feet instead of trusting his power and knowing that he's that good," Overbay added. "It's fun to watch."
Shawn Camp (1-0) pitched 1 2-3 innings of relief for the victory as Toronto won its ninth consecutive home series against the Royals. Kansas City has lost four of five overall.
"We've got to figure out a way to win a game here," Hillman said.
Jason Frasor worked the eighth and Kevin Gregg finished for his fourth save before a crowd of only 10,565.
Adam Lind's sacrifice fly gave Toronto a 1-0 lead after one but the Royals answered with two in the second. Jason Kendall extended his hitting streak to 13 games with an RBI single and Mitch Maier hit a sacrifice fly.
The Royals took a 3-1 lead with an unearned run in the third. Leadoff hitter Willie Bloomquist went to second on a fielding error by third baseman Jose Bautista and scored two outs later on Alberto Callaspo's RBI double.
Wells cut it to 3-2 in the fourth with a one-out homer off the facing of the third deck in left, his seventh, tying him with Texas' Nelson Cruz for the major league lead.
"He's off to a great start and I just hope he continues to go that way and stay healthy," Blue Jays manager Cito Gaston said.
Toronto chased Davies (1-1) with a two-run seventh. Wells led off with a double to left and Lyle Overbay followed with a double to center that landed on the warning track, just beyond the reach of Rick Ankiel.
"He came real close," Hillman said of Ankiel. "Obviously if he makes a great catch there, that inning plays out differently and they end up scoring the tying run but they don't get the go-ahead run."
Josh Rupe came on for Davies after Bautista and Buck each hit an infield single, making it 4-3. Buck's hit, a slow grounder down the third base line, raised his average to .200.
"I thought he was right on it," Overbay joked.
Travis Snider singled off Rupe to load the bases for Mike McCoy, who struck out looking, and the Royals escaped further damage when Fred Lewis grounded into a 5-2-3 double play.
Davies allowed four runs and six hits in six-plus innings. He walked two and struck out four.
"Kyle deserved a lot better," Hillman said. "He was only squared up three or four times the whole game."
Blue Jays left-hander Dana Eveland gave up three runs, two earned, and eight hits in 5 1-3 innings. He walked two and struck out three.
"It was a tough game," Eveland said. "I didn't have my best stuff and obviously it showed."
NOTES: A moment of silence was held before the game in honor of Rockies president Keli McGregor, who died Tuesday. ... Royals OF Scott Podsednik, who was leading the AL with a .457 batting average, rejoined the team after missing Monday's game because of a family emergency, but arrived too late to start. ... Blue Jays 3B Edwin Encarnacion (sore right arm) missed his sixth straight game.
- Blue Jays 4, Royals 3 - FINAL
KANSAS CITY ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
D DeJesus rf 5 0 0 0 0 2 2 .276
W Bloomquist 3b 4 1 2 0 1 0 0 .158
B Butler 1b 5 0 1 0 0 1 4 .286
J Guillen dh 4 1 1 0 0 1 3 .368
A Callaspo 2b 3 1 2 1 1 1 0 .291
R Ankiel cf 3 0 0 0 1 0 0 .240
J Kend
Apr 20 9:39 PM - AL
AT TORONTO - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY JOHN BUCK SCORED LYLE OVERBAY
SITUATION: 2 RUNS IN, J BUCK ON FIRST, J BAUTISTA ON SECOND, 0 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: KANSAS CITY 3
TORONTO 4 BOTTOM,7TH
DUE UP FOR TORONTO: T SNIDER (.136, 0-FOR-2)
Royals 3, Blue Jays 4 Bot 7, 0 OutsApr 20 9:05 PM - AL
AT TORONTO - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY JOSE BAUTISTA SCORED VERNON WELLS
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, J BAUTISTA ON FIRST, L OVERBAY ON THIRD, 0 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: KANSAS CITY 3
TORONTO 3 BOTTOM,7TH
DUE UP FOR TORONTO: J BUCK (.179, 0-FOR-1, BB)
Royals 3, Blue Jays 3 Bot 7, 0 OutsApr 20 9:04 PM - AL
AT TORONTO - SCORING UPDATE
SOLO HOME RUN BY VERNON WELLS (7) TO LEFT WITH 1 OUT IN THE
4TH OFF KYLE DAVIES.
CURRENT SCORE: KANSAS CITY 3, TORONTO 2
DUE UP FOR TORONTO: L OVERBAY (.115, 0-FOR-0, BB)
Royals 3, Blue Jays 2 Bot 4, 0 OutsApr 20 8:17 PM - AL
AT TORONTO - SCORING UPDATE
DOUBLE BY ALBERTO CALLASPO SCORED WILLIE BLOOMQUIST
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, A CALLASPO ON SECOND, 2 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: KANSAS CITY 3
TORONTO 1 TOP,3RD
DUE UP FOR KANSAS CITY: R ANKIEL (.250, 0-FOR-1)
Royals 3, Blue Jays 1 Top 3, 0 OutsApr 20 7:51 PM - AL
AT TORONTO - SCORING UPDATE
SACRIFICE FLY BY MITCH MAIER SCORED ALBERTO CALLASPO
SITUATION: 2 RUNS IN, J KENDALL ON FIRST, 2 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: KANSAS CITY 2
TORONTO 1 TOP,2ND
DUE UP FOR KANSAS CITY: Y BETANCOURT (.319, 2 HR, 5 RBI)
Royals 2, Blue Jays 1 Top 2, 0 OutsApr 20 7:28 PM - AL
AT TORONTO - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY JASON KENDALL SCORED JOSE GUILLEN
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, J KENDALL ON FIRST, A CALLASPO ON THIRD, 1 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: KANSAS CITY 1
TORONTO 1 TOP,2ND
DUE UP FOR KANSAS CITY: M MAIER (.100, 0 HR, 0 RBI)
Royals 1, Blue Jays 1 Top 2, 0 OutsApr 20 7:26 PM - AL
AT TORONTO - SCORING UPDATE
SACRIFICE FLY BY ADAM LIND SCORED FRED LEWIS
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, NONE ON, 2 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: KANSAS CITY 0
TORONTO 1 BOTTOM,1ST
DUE UP FOR TORONTO: V WELLS (.333, 6 HR, 11 RBI)
Royals 0, Blue Jays 1 Bot 1, 0 OutsApr 20 7:19 PM
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