Blue Jays 6 - 2 Royals
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Jul 11, 2015 - 7:22 AM While the Toronto Blue Jays' usually prolific lineup has been silent, the Kansas City Royals continue to make noise even without Alex Gordon.

Mark Buehrle will try to prevent the Royals from winning seven straight home games for the first time in 12 years Saturday.

Kansas City took a sixth straight victory by topping Toronto 3-0 in Friday's series opener and reached double-digits hits for the fifth consecutive game with 11. Eric Hosmer went 4 for 4 for the Royals, who are batting .328 with 39 runs during their win streak.

They've played the last two without Gordon, who is expected to sit out eight weeks because of a groin injury.

Kansas City (51-33) will next try to win seven in a row at Kauffman Stadium for the first time since a franchise-record 11-0 start in 2003. The Royals are also seeking to win seven straight overall since their 7-0 start to this season.

"They're their old lively self, it's just a lot of confidence right now that when we step on that field, we feel like we're going to win a baseball game," manager Ned Yost told MLB's official website.

Toronto, the major league leader with 470 runs, has been shut out in back-to-back games for the first time this season. The Blue Jays (44-45) have also plated 10 runs while batting .195 over a 1-4 stretch.

"We've cooled off a little bit, but we've also run into some good pitching. That's the way baseball works," manager John Gibbons said.

Toronto hasn't been shut out in three consecutive games since Aug. 24-26, 1990, and hasn't gone 25 or more consecutive innings without a run since a streak of 31 from May 9-12, 2008.

While Buehrle can't contribute to ending that drought, the veteran left-hander could give his team a boost with another effective outing.

Buehrle (9-5, 3.38 ERA) is 4-1 with a 1.80 ERA in his last eight starts but was hindered by four unearned runs in eight innings Monday in a 4-2 loss to his former team, the Chicago White Sox. He's allowed one earned run in 24 innings in his past three road starts and pitched two complete games.

Buehrle will face Kansas City for the first time this season and is 3-0 with a 0.83 ERA in his last three matchups.

Chris Young is 0-3 with a 7.71 ERA in his last four home starts for the Royals after going 3-0 with a 0.54 ERA in his first three. The right-hander gave up four runs in six-plus innings in a 9-5 win against visiting Tampa Bay on Tuesday.

Young (7-4, 2.89) is 2-0 with a 5.17 ERA in three lifetime starts against Toronto and earned a 6-3 win in his first meeting in nine years Aug. 12, yielding one run and two hits in six innings for Seattle.

Blue Jays All-Star Josh Donaldson is 1 for 13 in his career against Young, matching his worst performance against any pitcher he's faced at least 10 times. He's 1 for 13 versus Boston's Rick Porcello.

Alcides Escobar, batting .455 (15 for 33) in his last eight games, is 8 for 20 against Buehrle.






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