TORONTO (AP) — Teoscar Hernández singled home the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning and the Toronto Blue Jays rallied to beat the Kansas City Royals 6-5 on Saturday.
Royals designated hitter Vinnie Pasquantino hit a tie-breaking home run in the top of the 10th to put Kansas City up 5-3, but Toronto rallied in the bottom half against former Blue Jays reliever Joel Payamps (2-3).
After stepping out of the box and banging his bat in frustration over a strike two call that looked inside, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. led off the bottom of the 10th with a double, scoring automatic runner George Springer.
Hernández said Guerrero’s double “kind of fired up the whole team.” Pinch-hitter Raimel Tapia followed it with a game-tying base hit to center.
Bo Bichette singled and Hernández grounded a base hit through the left side to score Tapia, who slid home with the winning run as the crowd of 40,135 erupted.
The Blue Jays are 21-14 in one-run games, the most one-run victories in the majors.
Toronto’s Jordan Romano (3-2) got the win despite allowing Pasquantino’s homer.