Toronto, ON (Best E Casino) - Jesse Litsch tossed Toronto's second consecutive complete game in orchestrating the Blue Jays' 6-0 triumph over the
Kansas City Royals in the second of a four-game set at the Rogers Centre.
Litsch (6-1) needed 103 pitches to master the Royals for his first career complete game, allowing only seven hits and one walk. He fanned three for the Jays' third straight win.
Roy Halladay allowed only one run on 104 pitches going the distance in a 7-1 victory Friday night against the Royals.
Brad Wilkerson launched a grand slam in the first inning and Scott Rolen walked and scored twice, going 1-for-2. Lyle Overbay added a run batted in, scored and walked three times for the Jays, who have victories in five of their last seven.
Kansas City starter Luke Hochevar (3-4) allowed five runs -- four earned -- on six hits and four walks to absorb the loss for Kansas City, which dropped its sixth straight contest. The Royals have been outscored 39-13 over that same stretch.
"It's tough early on when the wind gets taken out of your sails," Hochevar said of Wilkerson's blast. "That puts us in a hole. I made a mistake and paid for it."
Kansas City tried to mount an offensive attack in the ninth with a Mark Grudzielanek leadoff double. Litsch retired the next two, with the runner moving to third on a groundout. Mark Teahen worked a walk and moved into scoring position on defensive indifference but Litsch got Billy Butler to fly out ending the game.
Toronto took an early 4-0 lead in the first inning courtesy of a grand slam off the bat of Wilkerson. Shannon Stewart started off the game with a base- knock but was thrown out trying to score on an Aaron Hill double. Rolen drew a two-out walk two batters later and Overbay singled to load them up. Wilkerson followed with his second home run of the season, to center, to clear the bases.
The Jays tacked on a run in the sixth on an RBI infield single from Greg Zaun and another in the seventh after KC's Ramon Ramirez issued a bases-loaded walk to Overbay. Yasuhiko Yabuta gave up a single to Hill and walked both Stewart and Alex Rios to load the bases before Ramirez came on.
Game Notes
Litsch snapped a streak of 38 consecutive innings without a walk to Teahen in the ninth inning...Stewart extended his hitting streak to nine games for Toronto with a single...The Royals are 2-7 in the midst of an 11-game road trip...Overbay has reached base safely in 11 straight games...Grudzielanek snapped an 0-for-16 skid with a single and a double in four at-bats.