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Jays get by Royals with eighth-inning patience

Aug 31, 2013 - 10:16 PM Toronto, ON (Sports Network) - Brett Lawrie and Rajai Davis produced the lead and insurance runs courtesy of bases-loaded walks in the bottom of the eighth, as Toronto slipped past Kansas City, 4-2, in the second edition of a three- game series.

Josh Thole also drove in a run, while Jose Reyes collected three hits and scored once and Edwin Encarnacion added a pair, including his 1,000th career hit, for the Blue Jays, who have won three in a row and five of six overall.

R.A. Dickey (11-12) worked eight innings, giving up seven hits and two runs with six strikeouts. Casey Janssen kept the visitors off the board in the final frame for his 26th save.

"I was able to change speeds a lot today. I was able to keep the ball down and get some outs with it," said Dickey. "Any time you can mess with the speeds in the strike zone, you're going to have a better chance of the opponent mis- hitting balls."

Eric Hosmer and Alcides Escobar knocked in a run each for the Royals, who have dropped both games to start the set after arriving in Canada with five straight victories.

Kelvin Herrera (5-7) was charged with a pair of unearned runs while recording one out in the eighth for the loss. Jeremy Guthrie started, scattering eight hits and one run while fanning four over seven innings.

Toronto took the lead in the eighth against three KC pitchers. Munenori Kawasaki reached on a leadoff pinch-hit infield single against Herrera, then Reyes singled with one out. With Will Smith on the hill, Escobar botched a Ryan Goins grounder, which plated Kawasaki for a 2-2 game. Encarnacion walked to load the bases and Aaron Crow came on, but after fanning Mark DeRosa, issued walks to Lawrie and Davis which forced in two more runs.

"I just lost command. In that situation, it just can't happen," Crow offered.

After the second base on balls, which included what was a strike on a 3-0 pitch to Davis, Royals manager Ned Yost was tossed by home plate umpire Will Little for arguing balls and strikes, and Tim Collins was called on to retire pinch-hitter J.P. Arencibia on a pop fly to right.

"I understand Crow threw seven balls in a row, but when you throw a strike, you get another opportunity. I'd seen enough. You just don't miss pitches like that," said Yost.

Janssen entered in the ninth and hit David Lough, then served up a one-out pinch single from George Kottaras, before Alex Gordon fanned swinging and Chris Getz -- running for Kottaras -- was thrown out trying to steal third to end the game.

"Casey does a good job of holding runners on," said Arencibia. "That gave me a chance to throw (Getz) out. Much of the battle is about being given the chance."

Escobar's two-out RBI single put the Royals on the board in the second. Salvador Perez worked a one-out walk, moved up on Jarrod Dyson's two-out hit and scored when Escobar dumped a Dickey pitch into center.

Emilio Bonifacio began the third with a triple and scored on a Hosmer single for a 2-0 edge.

Guthrie held the Jays off the board into the seventh, but Davis doubled with two down in the frame and scored when Thole followed with a base hit -- but Thole was erased at second to end the inning.

Game Notes

Toronto has won 11 of its last 15 meetings with the Royals dating back to 2011, including two of three at Kansas City earlier this year ... Despite the setback, for the first time in a non-strike season since 1989, the Royals clinched their fourth winning month out of the first five of a year, going 16-15 in August ... In 2013, Kansas City was 14-10 in April, 8-20 in May, 16-11 for June and 15-10 in July ... The '89 campaign featured a 16-8 April, 14-13 May, 14-12 June, 13-14 July and 21-8 August ... Hosmer posted his 50th multi-hit effort of the season ... Goins extended his hit streak to eight games, matching Jesse Barfield (1981) for longest to begin a career in franchise history.