Jakob Junis extended his streak of 14 innings without allowing a touchdown and the Kansas City Reals gave him a seven-run lead before the bullpen wasted most of the time, in a 7-5 win Thursday over the Toronto Tiles.
Junis (1-0) allowed two unstoppable five-runs with a ball base on work until the sixth inning, but both scores came with reliever Jake Newberry on the mound.
Kyle Zimmer conceded an annotation and Scott Barlow allowed two enemies to bask in an out in the ninth chapter before dominating Bo Bichette with a high and punching Vladimir Guerrero Jr. for his first rescue.
Guerrero was left with a triple to complete the cycle with the Tiles. The highlight for Toronto was the Dominican’s woodcut with two outs in the seventh inning.
The ball passed the left garden fountains and landed about 456 feet from the plate.
It wasn’t the night of Toronto opener Anthony Kay (0-1), who conceded five runs and 6 hits in just three innings and a third.
The Royals were going through an offensive pit before waking up on Wednesday against the Angelinos. A lineup formed to take advantage of the extensive gardens at Kauffman Stadium continued to accumulate extra bases on Thursday night.
Andrew Benintendi opened the board with double producer before Kay withdrew his first enemy. Nicky Lopez followed him with a triple tug in the third chapter – and scored on a mistake by striker Cavan Biggio. But the lethal blow to the Tiles came in the fifth episode, when four of Kansas City’s first six batters hit doubles.
For Reals, the Cuban Jorge Soler 4-2 with a score. Dominicans Hanser Albert 3-2 with one produced and two scored; Carlos Santana 4-0. The Venezuelan Salvador Pérez of 4-0.
By the Tiles, the Dominican Guerrero Jr. of 5-3 with one driven and two scored. The Cuban Lourdes Gurriel Jr. of 3-2 with a scored. Mexican Alejandro Kirk 1-1.