Alec Marsh and four relief pitchers worked together to limit the Toronto Blue Jays to six hits as the Kansas City Royals secured a 3-2 victory on Wednesday night.
Maikel Garcia and Salvador Perez each contributed two hits and an RBI for Kansas City. This win comes after a loss in the series opener on Monday, marking two consecutive victories for the Royals.
“That’s Royals baseball,” said Bobby Witt Jr., who has been hitting .350 during a five-game streak. “We’ve got to keep doing that. Get on the base paths. Be aggressive. Make things happen. The bats will come around and (we’ll) hit some homers, too.”
John Schreiber (2-0) earned the win in relief, while James McArthur secured his sixth save.
“It’s been awesome,” McArthur said. “Those guys coming in early in the game kind of sets the tone for us to come in later. We all have a really good idea of what we’re trying to do in the pen.
“The coaches do a great job of giving us good scouting reports, and then we can always rely on (catchers) Salvy (Perez) and Freddy (Fermin). We just try to pass the baton to each other and feed off each other.”
Yariel Rodríguez (0-1) allowed three runs on six hits over four innings. He struck out two and walked two.
Marsh exited the game with one out in the fifth inning after being hit by a line drive on his right forearm. Despite taking the hit, he managed to field the ball and throw out Addison Barger at first before being replaced. He had given up no runs on two hits prior to leaving the game.
“We feel like we got pretty lucky,” manager Matt Quatraro said. “It got him in like just above the elbow, on the forearm, but squaring him up. I mean, you could see (the laces) pretty good.
