Major League Baseball
Toronto 6, Kansas City 4
When: 7:07 PM ET, Friday, July 30, 2021
Where: Rogers Centre, Toronto, Ontario
Temperature: 69°
Umpires: Home - Jeremie Rehak, 1B - Andy Fletcher, 2B - Will Little, 3B - Stu Scheurwater
Attendance: 13446

Bo Bichette hit a two-run home run, Teoscar Hernandez had a solo shot and the Toronto Blue Jays won their true home opener Friday night, beating the Kansas City Royals 6-4.

George Springer was 3-for-4 with an RBI and run scored in the Blue Jays' first game at the Rogers Centre since Sept. 29, 2019. They had been playing their home games in Dunedin, Fla., and Buffalo because of COVID-19 restrictions.

Toronto right-hander Ross Stripling (4-6) allowed two runs and four hits in 5 1/3 innings in the opener of a three-game series. He walked one and struck out one.

Jordan Romano earned his ninth save of the season despite allowing a run in the ninth. Hunter Dozier singled, stole second, took third on a wild pitch and scored on a groundout.

Royals left-hander Daniel Lynch (1-3) allowed three runs and seven hits in six innings. He fanned two and walked two.

Toronto scored twice in the second inning. Hernandez led off with his 16th homer of the season. Randal Grichuk and Alejandro Kirk walked and Springer hit an RBI double with two outs, scoring Grichuk.

Bichette singled with one out in the third, stole second and scored on a two-out single by Lourdes Gurriel Jr.

The Royals scored once in the fifth on a two-out single by Jarrod Dyson and a triple by Nicky Lopez.

Stripling was replaced by Tim Mayza after Salvador Perez hit his 26th homer of the season with one out in the sixth.

Toronto loaded the bases with no outs in the seventh against Domingo Tapia when Kirk singled, Springer doubled and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. walked. One run scored when Marcus Semien grounded into a double play, and two scored on Bichette's 19th homer of the season.

The Royals scored once in the eighth against Brad Hand in his first outing since being obtained from the Washington Nationals. Lopez singled and scored from first when Bichette threw errantly to first on Whit Merrifield's infield single to shortstop.

The Royals traded outfielder Jorge Soler on Friday to the Atlanta Braves and recalled infielder Lucius Fox from Triple-A Omaha.

Toronto acquired right-hander Jose Berrios from the Minnesota Twins and right-hander Joakim Soria from the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday. Left-hander Kirby Snead was optioned to Triple-A Buffalo and outfielder Jonathan Davis and right-hander Tyler Chatwood were designated for assignment.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
Starting Pitchers
Kansas City   Toronto
Daniel Lynch Player Ross Stripling
Loss W/L Win
6.0 IP 5.1
2 Strikeouts 1
7 Hits 4
4.50 ERA 3.38
Hitting
Kansas City   Toronto
Nicky Lopez Player George Springer
2 Hits 3
1 RBI 1
0 HR 0
4 TB 5
.667 Avg .750
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Hits HR TB Avg LOB K RBI BB SB Errors
Kansas City 7 1 13 .206 11 4 3 1 3 0
Toronto 10 2 18 .312 14 3 5 4 1 1