GAME THREAD: GAME THREAD: AL: TORONTO (57-56) at KANSAS CITY (50-63)

AL: TORONTO at KANSAS CITY

<div class="pre">AL AT KANSAS CITY - PITCHING CHANGE
TOR: JEREMY ACCARDO (2-3, 2.47) STARTING THE 9TH
CURRENT SCORE: TORONTO 2, KANSAS CITY 1

DUE UP FOR KANSASCITY: M GRUDZIELANEK (.304, 0-FOR-2)</div>

 

AL: TORONTO at KANSAS CITY

<div class="pre">AL AT KANSAS CITY - MID INNING UPDATE
PLAY: J Accardo relieved S Downs.
SITUATION: 0 RUNS IN, NONE ON, 0 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: TORONTO 2
KANSAS CITY 1 BOTTOM, 9TH

DUE UP FOR KANSAS CITY: M Grudzielanek (.304, 0-FOR-2)</div>

 

AL: TORONTO at KANSAS CITY

<div class="pre">AL AT KANSAS CITY - MID INNING UPDATE
PLAY: E Brown ran for B Butler.
SITUATION: 0 RUNS IN, E BROWN ON FIRST, 2 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: TORONTO 2
KANSAS CITY 1 BOTTOM, 9TH

DUE UP FOR KANSAS CITY: R Gload (.298, 0-FOR-3)</div>

 

AL: TORONTO at KANSAS CITY

<div class="pre">AL FINAL
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
TORONTO 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 2 11 0
KANSAS CITY 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 5 0 (FINAL)

BATTERIES: TOR - SHAUN MARCUM, CASEY JANSSEN (7TH), SCOTT DOWNS (8TH), JEREMY
ACCARDO (9TH) AND GREGG ZAUN

KAN - GIL MECHE, DAVID RISKE (6TH), JIMMY GOBBLE (7TH),
JOEL PERALTA (8TH), ZACK GREINKE (9TH) AND JOHN BUCK, JASON
LARUE (9TH)

HOME RUNS: TOR - NONE

KAN - NONE</div>

 

AL: TORONTO at KANSAS CITY

<div class="pre">AL FINAL
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
TORONTO 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 2 11 0
KANSAS CITY 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 5 0 (FINAL)

BATTERIES: TOR - SHAUN MARCUM, CASEY JANSSEN (7TH), SCOTT DOWNS (8TH), JEREMY
ACCARDO (9TH) AND GREGG ZAUN

KAN - GIL MECHE, DAVID RISKE (6TH), JIMMY GOBBLE (7TH),
JOEL PERALTA (8TH), ZACK GREINKE (9TH) AND JOHN BUCK, JASON
LARUE (9TH)


WP - SHAUN MARCUM (9-4)
LP - GIL MECHE (7-10)
SAVE - JEREMY ACCARDO (21)

HOME RUNS: TOR - NONE

KAN - NONE


TIME: 3:10 ATT: 21,276

PROBABLES: TOR - DUSTIN MCGOWAN (8-5, 4.11)
KAN - LEO NUNEZ (1-0, 1.93)</div>

 

AL: TORONTO at KANSAS CITY

<div class="pre">TORONTO (2) VS KANSAS CITY (1) - FINAL

TORONTO ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
M Stairs lf 4 0 1 0 0 0 2 .289
R Johnson lf 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 .256
L Overbay 1b 5 1 1 0 0 1 4 .251
A Rios rf 4 1 2 0 0 0 1 .304
V Wells cf 4 0 2 2 0 0 0 .263
F Thomas dh 3 0 1 0 1 0 2 .266
H Luna pr-dh 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
T Glaus 3b 4 0 0 0 0 3 3 .247
A Hill 2b 4 0 1 0 0 1 2 .274
G Zaun c 4 0 2 0 0 1 0 .251
J McDonald ss 3 0 1 0 1 1 2 .274

Totals 36 2 11 2 2 7 18

BATTING: 2B - V Wells (32, G Meche); G Zaun (14, D Riske). RBI - V Wells 2
(66). Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - L Overbay 2, F Thomas 1. GIDP -
A Hill, M Stairs. Team LOB - 9.

BASERUNNING: SB - V Wells (8, 3rd base off D Riske/J Buck).

FIELDING: DP: 3 (S Marcum-J McDonald-L Overbay, J McDonald-L Overbay, A
Hill-J McDonald-L Overbay).


KANSAS CITY ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
D DeJesus cf 3 0 0 0 1 0 2 .280
M Grudzielanek 2b 3 0 0 0 0 1 1 .303
M Teahen rf 4 0 0 0 0 0 2 .287
B Butler dh 3 0 2 0 1 1 0 .301
E Brown pr 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .237
R Gload 1b 4 0 0 0 0 1 3 .296
A Gordon 3b 3 1 1 0 0 1 1 .237
J Buck c 2 0 0 0 0 1 1 .235
a-E German ph 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 .285
J LaRue c 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .155
J Gathright lf 3 0 1 1 0 0 0 .354
T Pena Jr ss 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 .276

Totals 29 1 5 1 2 6 11

a-struck out swinging for J Buck in the 8th.

BATTING: 2B - A Gordon (24, C Janssen). RBI - J Gathright (11). GIDP - M Teahen
2, D DeJesus. Team LOB - 4.

FIELDING: DP: 2 (A Gordon-M Grudzielanek-R Gload, M Grudzielanek-T Pena Jr-R
Gload).


----------------------------------------------------
TORONTO - 000 002 000 -- 2
KANSAS CITY - 000 000 010 -- 1
----------------------------------------------------

TORONTO ip h r er bb so hr era
S Marcum (W, 9-4) 6 2/3 1 0 0 2 4 0 3.43
C Janssen (H, 19) 2/3 3 1 1 0 2 0 2.40
S Downs (H, 20) 2/3 0 0 0 0 0 0 2.45
J Accardo (S, 21) 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 2.42

KANSAS CITY ip h r er bb so hr era
G Meche (L, 7-10) 5 7 2 2 0 5 0 3.95
D Riske 1 2/3 1 0 0 2 0 0 2.26
J Gobble 1/3 0 0 0 0 0 0 3.11
J Peralta 1 2/3 3 0 0 0 2 0 3.63
Z Greinke 1/3 0 0 0 0 0 0 4.66

G Meche pitched to 3 batters in the 6th.

WP - C Janssen. HBP - M Grudzielanek (by S Marcum). Pitches-strikes: S Marcum
81-48; C Janssen 20-14; S Downs 4-2; J Accardo 19-15; G Meche 101-60; D Riske
19-9; J Gobble 5-3; J Peralta 32-22; Z Greinke 2-2. Ground balls-fly balls: S
Marcum 9-7; C Janssen 0-0; S Downs 2-0; J Accardo 2-1; G Meche 4-6; D Riske
4-1; J Gobble 1-0; J Peralta 1-2; Z Greinke 1-0. Batters faced: S Marcum 22; C
Janssen 5; S Downs 1; J Accardo 4; G Meche 22; D Riske 6; J Gobble 1; J Peralta
8; Z Greinke 1.

UMPIRES: HP--Randy Marsh. 1B--Bob Davidson. 2B--Brian Knight. 3B--Sam
Holbrook.

T--3:10. Att--21,276.
Weather: 94 degrees, clear. Wind: 8 mph, right to
left.</div>

 

AL: TORONTO at KANSAS CITY

<div class="pre">** CONFIRMED **
AL
TORONTO 2
KANSAS CITY 1 FINAL</div>

 

Marcum's successful homecoming lifts Blue Jays over Royals

<h3>TORONTO 2, KANSAS CITY 1</h3>By Marc Bowman
PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer


KANSAS CITY, Missouri (Ticker) -- Shaun Marcum's memorablehomecoming was cut short because of an injury.


Marcum had his no-hitter broken up in the seventh inning andVernon Wells drove in two runs to lift the Toronto Blue Jays toa 2-1 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Friday in theopener of a three-game series.


A Kansas City area native, Marcum (9-4) held the Royals hitlessthrough 6 2/3 innings, facing the minimum number of battersthrough the first four.


Making his first career start at Kauffman Stadium, Marcum (9-4)allowed just four baserunners - none past first base - beforedeparting with cramps in his right calf after allowing a two-outinfield hit by Billy Butler that ended his bid for a no-hitter.

The 25-year-old righthander had four strikeouts and just twowalks en route to winning for the fourth time in as many starts.Marcum, who attended high school in Excelsior Springs, asuburb of Kansas City, has a 2.36 ERA with 20 strikeouts in thatspan.


Wells, who had two hits, gave the Blue Jays a 2-0 lead in thesixth inning with a two-run double to left-center off KansasCity starter Gil Meche after Lyle Overbay and Alex Rios led offthe inning with base hits.


Joey Gathright's one-out single scored Alex Gordon for KansasCity's only run, cutting Toronto's advantage to 2-1.

Jeremy Accardo pitched around a hit in a scoreless ninth torecord his 21st save of the season.


Accardo received an assist from left fielder Reed Johnson, whotook a home run away from Mark Teahen to preserve the lead.

Meche (7-10) remained winless over four starts despite holdingthe Blue Jays scoreless for the first five frames. Therighthander allowed two runs and seven hits with five strikeoutsover five-plus innings.

 

AL: TORONTO at KANSAS CITY

<div class="pre">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TORONTO (2) AT KANSAS CITY (1) - HOW THEY SCORED
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

TORONTO 6TH: L Overbay singled to left center. A Rios singled to left,
L Overbay to third. V Wells doubled to deep left center, L Overbay and A Rios
scored. D Riske relieved G Meche. V Wells stole third. F Thomas walked.
T Glaus flied out to right. A Hill grounded into double play, third to second to
first, F Thomas out at second.(2 Runs, 3 Hits, 0 Errors) TORONTO 2,
KANSAS CITY 0.

KANSAS CITY 8TH: A Gordon doubled to left. E German hit for J Buck.
E German struck out swinging. A Gordon to third on wild pitch by C Janssen.
J Gathright singled to left center, A Gordon scored. T Pena Jr singled to left,
J Gathright to third. S Downs relieved C Janssen. D DeJesus grounded into
double play, second to shortstop to first, T Pena Jr out at second.(1 Run,
3 Hits, 0 Errors) TORONTO 2, KANSAS CITY 1.</div>

 

AL: TORONTO at KANSAS CITY

<div class="pre">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TORONTO (2) AT KANSAS CITY (1) - EVENT LOG
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Toronto Starting Lineups -- M Stairs LF, L Overbay 1B, A Rios RF, V Wells CF,
F Thomas DH, T Glaus 3B, A Hill 2B, G Zaun C, J McDonald SS, S Marcum RHP.

Kansas City Starting Lineups -- D DeJesus CF, M Grudzielanek 2B, M Teahen RF,
B Butler DH, R Gload 1B, A Gordon 3B, J Buck C, J Gathright LF, T Pena Jr SS,
G Meche RHP.

Umpires -- Randy Marsh (HP), Bob Davidson (1B), Brian Knight (2B),
Sam Holbrook (3B).

Gametime Weather: 94 degrees, Clear, wind right to left at 8 mph.


TORONTO 1ST: M Stairs grounded out to second. L Overbay struck out
looking. A Rios singled to center. V Wells singled to center, A Rios to
second. F Thomas grounded into fielder's choice to shortstop, V Wells out at
second. (0 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) TORONTO 0, KANSAS CITY 0.

KANSAS CITY 1ST: D DeJesus walked. M Grudzielanek struck out swinging.
M Teahen grounded into double play, pitcher to shortstop to first, D DeJesus out
at second.(0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) TORONTO 0, KANSAS CITY 0.

TORONTO 2ND: T Glaus struck out swinging. A Hill struck out looking.
G Zaun popped out to first. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) TORONTO 0,
KANSAS CITY 0.

KANSAS CITY 2ND: B Butler struck out looking. R Gload lined out to right.
A Gordon struck out swinging. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) TORONTO 0,
KANSAS CITY 0.

TORONTO 3RD: J McDonald popped out to second. M Stairs singled to left.
L Overbay flied out to left. A Rios lined out to center. (0 Runs, 1 Hit,
0 Errors) TORONTO 0, KANSAS CITY 0.

KANSAS CITY 3RD: J Buck struck out swinging. J Gathright bunt grounded out
to pitcher. T Pena Jr grounded out to pitcher. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors)
TORONTO 0, KANSAS CITY 0.

TORONTO 4TH: V Wells grounded out to second. F Thomas grounded out to
shortstop. T Glaus struck out looking. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) TORONTO 0,
KANSAS CITY 0.

KANSAS CITY 4TH: D DeJesus flied out to center. M Grudzielanek hit by
pitch. M Teahen grounded into double play, shortstop to first, M Grudzielanek
out at second.(0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) TORONTO 0, KANSAS CITY 0.

TORONTO 5TH: A Hill lined out to shortstop. G Zaun struck out swinging.
J McDonald reached on bunt single to pitcher. M Stairs flied out to left.
(0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) TORONTO 0, KANSAS CITY 0.

KANSAS CITY 5TH: B Butler walked. R Gload flied out to center. A Gordon
flied out to center. J Buck flied out to center. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors)
TORONTO 0, KANSAS CITY 0.

TORONTO 6TH: L Overbay singled to left center. A Rios singled to left,
L Overbay to third. V Wells doubled to deep left center, L Overbay and A Rios
scored. D Riske relieved G Meche. V Wells stole third. F Thomas walked.
T Glaus flied out to right. A Hill grounded into double play, third to second to
first, F Thomas out at second.(2 Runs, 3 Hits, 0 Errors) TORONTO 2,
KANSAS CITY 0.

KANSAS CITY 6TH: J Gathright grounded out to second. T Pena Jr flied out
to center. D DeJesus grounded out to pitcher. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors)
TORONTO 2, KANSAS CITY 0.

TORONTO 7TH: G Zaun doubled to left. J McDonald walked. M Stairs grounded
into double play, second to shortstop to first, J McDonald out at second,
G Zaun to third. J Gobble relieved D Riske. L Overbay grounded out to pitcher.
(0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) TORONTO 2, KANSAS CITY 0.

KANSAS CITY 7TH: R Johnson in left field. M Grudzielanek flied out to
center. M Teahen grounded out to first. B Butler reached on infield single to
shortstop. C Janssen relieved S Marcum. R Gload struck out swinging. (0 Runs,
1 Hit, 0 Errors) TORONTO 2, KANSAS CITY 0.

TORONTO 8TH: J Peralta relieved J Gobble. A Rios flied out to right.
V Wells flied out to center. F Thomas singled to left. H Luna ran for F Thomas.
T Glaus struck out swinging. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) TORONTO 2, KANSAS CITY 0.

KANSAS CITY 8TH: A Gordon doubled to left. E German hit for J Buck.
E German struck out swinging. A Gordon to third on wild pitch by C Janssen.
J Gathright singled to left center, A Gordon scored. T Pena Jr singled to left,
J Gathright to third. S Downs relieved C Janssen. D DeJesus grounded into
double play, second to shortstop to first, T Pena Jr out at second.(1 Run,
3 Hits, 0 Errors) TORONTO 2, KANSAS CITY 1.

TORONTO 9TH: J LaRue catching. A Hill singled to center. G Zaun singled to
right center, A Hill to second. J McDonald struck out looking. R Johnson
grounded into fielder's choice to third, A Hill out at third, G Zaun to second.
Z Greinke relieved J Peralta. L Overbay grounded out to shortstop. (0 Runs,
2 Hits, 0 Errors) TORONTO 2, KANSAS CITY 1.

KANSAS CITY 9TH: J Accardo relieved S Downs. M Grudzielanek grounded out to
second. M Teahen flied out to left. B Butler singled to right. E Brown ran
for B Butler. R Gload grounded into fielder's choice to shortstop, E Brown out
at second. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) TORONTO 2, KANSAS CITY 1.</div>

 

Marcum's successful homecoming lifts Blue Jays over Royals

<h3>TORONTO 2, KANSAS CITY 1</h3>By Marc Bowman
PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer


KANSAS CITY, Missouri (Ticker) - Shaun Marcum's memorablehomecoming was cut short because of an injury.


Marcum had his no-hitter broken up in the seventh inning andVernon Wells drove in two runs to lift the Toronto Blue Jays toa 2-1 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Friday in theopener of a three-game series.


A Kansas City area native, Marcum (9-4) held the Royals hitlessthrough 6 2/3 innings, facing the minimum number of battersthrough the first four.


"It's a lot of fun to come back here," Marcum said. "We had alot of fan support. My brother rounded up a lot of buddies. Ihad 23 tickets out, but they bought up another 200. It was funto have that support."


Making his first career start at Kauffman Stadium, Marcum (9-4)allowed just four baserunners - none past first base - beforedeparting with cramps in his right calf leg after surrendering atwo- out infield hit by Billy Butler that ended his bid for ano-hitter.


"The heat got to me a little bit," Marcum said. "I wanted tostay out there as long as I could, but I didn't want to riskgetting hurt. (Toronto manager) John (Gibbons) did the rightthing."


"We decided that if he gave (the no-hitter) up, he's comingout," Gibbons said. "We're not going to risk it."

The 25-year-old righthander had four strikeouts and just twowalks en route to winning for the fourth time in as many starts.Marcum, who attended high school in Excelsior Springs, a suburbof Kansas City, has a 2.36 ERA with 20 strikeouts in that span.

"He's got a big heart," Gibbons said. "We started to notice theno-hitter in the middle innings, but it's not the first timehe's done that. He's made some really good starts for us."

"He's a gritty guy," Blue Jays catcher Gregg Zaun said. "Hedidn't have a good grip on the ball after the first inning. Hehad the fastball and we tried a few changeups but he keptthrowing the one pitch he could grip and he kept moving itaround. It was a pretty typical performance from him."

Wells, who had two hits, gave the Blue Jays a 2-0 lead in thesixth inning with a two-run double to left-center off KansasCity starter Gil Meche after Lyle Overbay and Alex Rios led offthe inning with base hits.


"I got a fastball I could handle," Wells said. "I was luckyenough to put some good wood on it and we got two runs. Theyturned out to be big. When Gil Meche is pitching, runs are hardto come by."


Joey Gathright's one-out single scored Alex Gordon in the eighthfor Kansas City's only run, cutting Toronto's advantage to 2-1.

Jeremy Accardo pitched around a hit in a scoreless ninth torecord his 21st save of the season.


Accardo received an assist from left fielder Reed Johnson, whomade a leaping catch at the wall to take away an extra-base hitfrom Mark Teahen and preserve the lead.


"When it left the bat it looked like it had a chance to go out,"Zaun said. "But Reed made a great play. Those guys are greatdefenders. It doesn't surprise me at all that he made it."

"He has done a heck of a job for us," Gibbons said. "He can doa lot of things and he can play defense. It might be adifferent game without that play."


Meche (7-10) remained winless over four starts despite holdingthe Blue Jays scoreless for the first five frames. Therighthander allowed two runs and seven hits with five strikeoutsover five-plus innings.


"(Marcum) pitched well," Meche said. "We couldn't get to himand they got to me. I left a couple of pitches up, gave them achance to put it in play and they did. I had trouble holdingonto the ball. When I was ahead in the count I wasn't puttingthem away like I needed to. My whole day was a 3-2 count."