Lorenzo Cain Powers Royals Past Blue Jays 6-1

Ah, baseball. While the NFL may claim that any team can beat any other on any given Sunday, no sport is quite as unpredictable as baseball. After all, when the Royals were swept by the worst team in the league earlier this week, it seemed highly unlikely that they would have a chance against the Toronto Blue Jays. Instead, after their comeback victory last night, Lorenzo Cain made sure that the Royals would earn at least a split of the series, as he drove in four runs to help power the Royals to a 6-1 victory.

The Blue Jays appeared to be poised to jump out on the Royals early. Jose Reyes led off with a triple against Jason Vargas, and with the heart of their order upcoming, a run or two seemed inevitable. However, Vargas bore down, and masterfully worked out of the jam, leaving Reyes stranded on third and keeping the game scoreless.

From that moment, the Royals rode a wave of momentum. With runners on the corners and one out, Lorenzo Cain flared a base hit to right, plating Billy Butler and giving the Royals an early lead. The Royals added to that lead when Alex Gordon hit his fourth home run of the year, hammering J.A. Happ‘s offering to deep right for a two run shot, giving the Royals a 3-0 lead.

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That support would be all that Vargas would need. Mixing pitches and working both sides of the plate, he was able to keep the Blue Jays off balance for much of the night. His only real mistake came in the fifth, when Jose Bautista smoked Vargas’ 0-1 offering deep to center for a solo home run, putting the Blue Jays on the board.

From that point on, it was the Lorenzo Cain Show. In the top of the sixth, Gordon singled with one out, and following a popup, stole second on a botched pickoff. Cain stroked another base hit, this time to center, driving in Gordon as the Royals recaptured their three run advantage. He then put the game out of reach in the top of the eighth, blasting a two run home run to center, rpoviding the final runs in the Royals 6-1 victory.

Jason Vargas picked up the win, allowing only the one run on seven hits and three walks, striking out seven batters in his six innings of work. Cain ended up going 3-4 with the home run and four RBIs on the night.

Billy Butler was 3-4 with three runs scored in the win.