KANSAS CITY, Ma. Steven Matz kept the Kansas City Royals without a hit in the sixth inning, and Jonathan Davis and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. gave the Toronto Blue Jays a 5-1 victory in the seven-innings of their doubles. Saturday.
Matz (3-0) allowed just a few times before Nicky Lopez’s bloom with one out in the sixth away. Matz conceded Andrew Benintendi’s doubles later in the innings for the only other flaw in an otherwise dominant performance.
The Blue Jays had to decide with a split in the night cap while the Royals followed veteran Ervin Santana on the points ladder, with four pitchers before Salvador Perez’s two-out homer beat them 3-2.
As for left-back Matz, he hit five around the two runs and two shots, while Kansas City could only hit five balls from the inside before making room for Rafael Dolis for the seventh innings.
“It’s nice to get in a groove early in the season, especially if you have a series like this,” said Matz, who has struggled with injuries throughout the six seasons with the Mets. “It was good. I just try to build down every start, take a little bit off each start and get a little better every time. That is the goal ahead. ”
Unlike a shaky first, the Royals’ Mike Minor mostly takes care of the Matz pitch.
Minor (1-1) retired his first two innings before Guerrero and Randal Grichuk hit a consecutive hit and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. drilled a two-stroke from the wall. It was all the runs until Davis hit his first homer of the year on the left-field wrong post kicking off the fifth and Guerrero leading his second homer in the series leading the sixth.
“Some good defense plays behind me,” Minor said. ‘I felt the strike zone was a bit tight, and a lot of the places I was throwing did not progress. I was getting behind guys. And then I gave up the house runs. ‘
Even if Matz did not allow the entire game, his first-class would not be an official decision, as teams or pitchers must play at least nine innings to qualify. The decision to shorten doubles matches to seven innings for the 2021 season means Matz and the Blue Jays would have needed at least two extra innings to count.
The only non-hit in Blue Jays history is Dave Stieb’s 3-0 victory over the Indians on September 2, 1990.
“We had a great start today. Matz throws the ball well, “said Mike Matheny, manager of Royals. ‘He had a good late move – you could see the guys did not see the late move. Really work in by using the back door. ”
The Blue Jays were certainly glad they had Matz’s masterful performance after Friday’s rainfall. Their starting rotation was hampered by injuries just three weeks into the season, including a 7-5 loss to Kansas City on Thursday night.
In the sleeping cap, the Blue Jays send Tommy Milone to the hill against Ervin Santana of the Royals.
The well-traveled Santana has not taken a major league heap with the White Sox since April 24, 2019. Santana spent the 2013 season with the Royals and started for them for the first time in 2,761 days.