Kansas City Royals vs Toronto Blue Jays Box Score on Sep 09, 2023

George Springer had two homers and four RBIs, Kevin Gausman struck out 10 in eight dominant innings and the Toronto Blue Jays defeated the visiting Kansas City Royals 5-1 on Saturday afternoon.

Springer hit two solo home runs and a two-run single in going 3-for-4 as the Blue Jays (79-63) have won the first two games of the three-game series. The Blue Jays are 9-5 on their stretch of 15 games against teams with sub-.500 records.

Edward Olivares hit a solo home run for the Royals (44-99), who have lost three in a row.

Gausman (11-8) allowed one run on two hits and one walk.

Royals right-hander James McArthur pitched two perfect innings as the opener. Zack Greinke (1-15) took over and allowed four runs and six hits in 3 2/3 innings.

The first hit of the game came when Springer led off the bottom of the fourth with a home run on a drive to left.

Olivares had Kansas City's first hit when he clubbed his 10th homer of the season on a shot to left-center with two out in the fifth.

Toronto regained the lead in the bottom of the fifth. Alejandro Kirk led off with a walk and Daulton Varsho followed with a double. Springer hit a two-run single with two out for a 3-1 Toronto lead.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. led off the Toronto sixth with a single and scored on Cavan Biggio's one-out double to center.

Springer hit his 19th home run with two out in the seventh inning against Angel Zerpa on a drive to right-center.

Jordan Hicks took over from Gausman and pitched a perfect ninth inning.

Salvador Perez caught eight innings for the Royals to reach 10,000 career innings behind the plate, becoming the first catcher to do so in franchise history.

Kansas City put catcher Freddy Fermin (fractured finger) on the injured list Saturday.

Toronto shortstop Bo Bichette, who returned from the IL on Friday, did not play on Saturday, a planned move.

--Field Level Media