Ragans shoves in 4-1 win over Blue Jays

Anything to stop the losing streak...

Coming off their third-straight loss, the Royals used a stellar performance from Cole Ragans to end the skid with a 4-1 win. It’s the second time in a week that Ragans has defeated the Blue Jays.

As was the same for Toronto in facing Ragans twice in a week, Kansas City was tasked with Round 2 against Jose Berrios. Similar to last week’s matchup, the Royals didn’t waste much time in tagging the right-hander for a pair of runs.

With Salvador Perez on first, Michael Massey belted his first homer of the year to right-center field — giving the Royals a 2-0 lead in the top of the second.

For a while, that was all the support that Ragans needed. He dominated Toronto’s lineup through the first five innings — allowing just one hit.

It wasn’t until the sixth inning that Ragans allowed his first run on an RBI-single off the bat of Bo Bichette. It was also the first run the left-hander had allowed in a road start this season. He exited in the seventh with two on and two outs after throwing a season-high in pitches. John Schreiber danced around the jam as he’s done all season long.

In the top of the eighth, Kansas City’s offense came back to life. With two outs, Bobby Witt Jr ripped an RBI-double to the left field wall and Vinnie Pasquantino missed a two-run homer by inches on a fly ball to right. When the dust settled, the Royals extended their lead to three.

Schreiber stayed in for the eighth and was perfect. James, The General, McArthur slammed the door in the ninth.

Kansas City, 18-13, have won the season series against the Blue Jays for the first time since 2017. They will go for a series win to close out the road trip tomorrow afternoon. Seth Lugo will duel with Chris Bassitt at 2:07 p.m. CT.