In a memorable night in Kansas City, the Royals crushed the Blue Jays with a resounding score of 20-1. The game was marked by an explosive first inning for the home team and an unusual performance by pitcher Max Scherzer.
Salvador Pérez leads the offense
The catcher Salvador Pérez was a key piece in the Royals’ offense, hitting a three-run home run in the first inning. This hit was crucial in driving a seven-run rally that set the course of the game. In that same episode, the Royals sent ten batters to the plate, facing a Max Scherzer who had a performance to forget. Scherzer could only get two outs, allowing seven hits, in what was his shortest non-injury outing of his career. The Blue Jays pitcher conceded the most runs in an inning of his career.A frenetic game start
After a home run by George Springer for the Blue Jays in the top of the first inning, the Royals responded quickly. Carter Jensen with a double and Bobby Witt Jr. with a single, tied the game. Vinnie Pasquantino drove in the run that gave Kansas City the lead. After a walk to Maikel García and the ejection of Toronto’s pitching coach, Pete Walker, Pérez hit his 30th home run of the season. Michael Massey also contributed with a two-run homer, extending the lead to 7-1. Subsequently, a double by Carter Jensen forced Scherzer to leave the mound.Blue Jays manager John Schneider called Scherzer’s exit “strange”.“We’re going to dig in and figure out what was going on, look at some more advanced stuff,” Scherzer said. “But when I went back and looked at the location of some of the pitches, I’m actually okay with it. In that sense, you forget about it and move on.”
Max Scherzer
Carter Jensen, who batted as the leadoff hitter for the first time, hit three doubles, including two in the first inning. Jensen became the first Royals player with multiple doubles in the same inning. Jac Caglianone hit a three-run homer in the seventh, adding to the ten runs and 13 hits the Royals accumulated in 1⅓ innings against catcher Tyler Heineman. Isiah Kiner-Falefa pitched the final two outs in the eighth inning. Pasquantino contributed four of the 27 hits, a record for the Kansas City franchise, and the team accumulated eight extra-base hits in the first three innings. Royals’ opening pitcher Michael Lorenzen (6-11) allowed one run and three hits, with three walks and four strikeouts in 7⅔ innings, earning his first win since July 6. Schneider does not expect Friday’s performance to change anything about Scherzer’s future in the rotation.“You don’t see that very often from Max throughout his career, unless there’s an injury,” Schneider said. “They came out swinging and he kind of left things in the middle.”
John Schneider
“It’s a strange outing to go two-thirds of an inning and throw a lot of pitches,” he said. “But I don’t think it will affect him in the future. It won’t make his pitch count any lower. In the future he’ll be on a normal workload and a normal pitch count.”
John Schneider
