Toronto staves off elimination with 7-1 win over KC

The Toronto Public Library posted a photo on Twitter of a message created using the spines of books celebrating the Blue Jays’ victory over the Kansas City Royals in Game 5 of the American League Division Series.

In ’85, the Royals earned a 2-0 win in Game Five and then stunned the Blue Jays by taking the final two games in Toronto.

After Dickey hit Escobar with a pitch – a call that needed replay review to get it right – he walked Cain one out later and was done after 1⅔ innings.

The all-star shortstop has knocked in 11 runs this postseason, two shy of the Jays’ playoff RBI record held by 1993 World Series MVP Paul Molitor. 194 (7-for-36) but he has been a game-changer with the bat in three of Toronto’s post-season outings.

Gibbons said his players remain confident and upbeat, knowing they won three straight to beat the Texas Rangers in the ALDS. The veteran infielder has one of the best throwing arms in the majors, and he didn’t disappoint in that regard Tuesday night. He was struck near his pitching shoulder by a comebacker in the series opener on Saturday night, leading to a few swelling and discomfort.

Ventura allowed three runs in 5 1/3 innings in Game 2 as the Royals mounted a late comeback against Price to win. “Bottom line is I ended up on first and Tulo came through”.

The Kansas City Royals moved to within one win of a place in the World Series after crushing the Toronto Blue Jays 14-2 to take a stranglehold on the best-of-seven series. The Blue Jays were hitless against Chris Young until Ryan Goins singled with one out in the third.

That’s all for knuckleballer R.A. Dickey. The Royals added four in the seventh and five in the eighth. He didn’t get close this time.

Alcides Escobar led off with an infield hit and Ben Zobrist followed with a homer on the game’s fourth pitch. Lorenzo Cain walked and scored on a passed ball.

Price warmed up during the seventh – and he does not throw bullpen sessions between starts, so it was clearly possible he could enter the game – but Estrada escaped that inning, too.

Inside Edge graded Estrada’s start an “A-“, with only blemishes the solo home run and a few deep counts. Estrada is not a hard thrower by any means – his fastball averaged 90.2 miles per hour in Game 5 – but the deception and velocity difference on his changeup makes his fastball play up.

“We always watch for that whoever we’re playing”, Yost said.

It’s 59 degrees Fahrenheit and cloudy in Toronto but the roof is closed again.

Spirits were high in the streets of Toronto after the Blue Jays stayed alive in the American League Championship Series.

“That’s what you look for out of Marco, because he’s a fly ball guy”, Gibbons said. He said it was raining earlier on his way to the ballpark. In 2011, ESPN, citing four anonymous relievers, reported an AL team saw a man in a white shirt sending signals from the outfield seats to the batter’s box during a game in 2010.

“What you need are guys to get hot and they have”, Yost said. “My general thinking on things like this is things like this is that the individual clubs locally know best what should happen in their stadium”.

With Game 5 on Wednesday (4:07 ET) the Blue Jays will be forced to erase this one from the memory in short order. “He didn’t miss many pitches”.

“We didn’t panic and that’s what we do”, said Toronto manager John Gibbons. Osuna allowed a two-run homer to Kendrys Morales in the ninth.