Alek Manoah spun six shutout innings Tuesday night as the visiting Toronto Blue Jays blanked the Kansas City Royals for the second straight night, 7-0.
The Blue Jays, who earned an 8-0 win on Monday in the opener of a three-game series, won back-to-back shutouts for the first time since last Sept. 5 against the Oakland A’s and Sept. 6 against the New York Yankees. Toronto won for the 11th time in 13 games.
The Royals had not lost back-to-back shutouts since May 2021.
Alejandro Kirk went 4-for-5 with a run to lead the Toronto offense. Bo Bichette had two hits and three walks, and Santiago Espinal added three hits and two runs.
Manoah (7-1) kept the Royals off balance while scattering six hits and three walks. All four of his strikeouts were on called third strikes. He got out of a bases-loaded jam in the sixth — after walking two batters with two outs — when he got Kyle Isbel to pop out to short left.
Yimi Garcia, David Phelps and Jordan Romano each threw a hitless inning to complete the shutout.
Royals starter Brad Keller (1-7) allowed three runs on seven hits with two walks and four strikeouts in six-plus innings. He got the Blue Jays to ground into three inning-ending double plays.
The Blue Jays strung together three consecutive hits in the second inning to take a 2-0 lead. Kirk dropped a single into short center before Espinal’s double sent Kirk to third. Matt Chapman then doubled down the left field line, scoring both runners.
Manoah coaxed the Royals into inning-ending double plays in the second and third innings. Kansas City had first and second with one out in the second when shortstop Bichette leaped to snag a line drive, then doubled off Carlos Santana at second.
The Blue Jays got three more runs in the seventh. Keller gave up two hits to start the inning, including Kirk’s third single. Reliever Collin Snider got a lineout double play, but Raimel Tapia’s double drove home Espinal. Three straight walks led to another run, and the fifth of the inning scored on a wild pitch.
Teoscar Hernandez’s two-run double in the ninth provided the final runs.
–Field Level Media