By MATT PIKE
Jac Caglianone recorded a career-best five hits and finished with a career-high six RBIs, St. Joseph's Noah Cameron pitched six strong innings and the Kansas City Royals beat the Toronto Blue Jays 13-2 at the Rogers Centre to claim a series win.
Cameron moved above .500 on the season improving to 9-8, allowing six hits and two runs while striking out three and walking two, lowering his season ERA below 4.00 to 3.98. Carter Jensen got the Royals off to their hot start with a 421-foot home run off Spencer Arrighetti to lead off the game, and in the same inning Salvador Perez reached on a fielders choice, scoring Bobby Witt Jr after he followed Jensen's leadoff home run with a single, putting Kansas City up 2-0 early.
The Royals added two more runs in the second inning on Caglianone's second hit of the day, a two RBI single that scored Josh Rojas and Witt Jr. Kansas City held a 4-0 lead in the game until the sixth inning when they scored six, starting with RBI doubles from Kyle Isbel and Witt Jr, which scored Rojas and Isbel respectively, extending the Royals lead in the inning.
Holding a 6-0 lead in the sixth, the Royals continued to pour it on, Caglianone hitting another two RBI single and bringing home Witt Jr and Jensen, before Vinnie Pasquantino hit a two-run home run, scoring Caglianone, that capped Kansas City's six-run inning and pushed the Royals lead to 10-0.
The Blue Jays scored their two runs in the bottom of the sixth off Cameron, George Springer hitting a two run home run and driving in Alejandro Kirk. In the eighth inning, Pasquantino drove in one more run with an RBI single, scoring Caglianone, and then in the ninth inning, Caglianone's two-run home run, bringing home Tyler Tolbert, with two outs capped the scoring.
At the plate, Caglianone was 5-for-6 with six RBIs, a double, and a home run, coming a triple shy of the cycle. Caglianone became the youngest Royal ever to have five or more hits and five or more RBIs in a game. Pasquantino was 2-for-5 with a home run and three RBIs.
Next, Kansas City travels to Cleveland on Friday. Michael Wacha (7-8, 3.49 ERA, 126Ks) for the Royals against Tanner Bibee (5-13, 3.97 ERA, 123Ks) for the Guardians. First pitch is at 6:10pm, pregame will air at 5:30pm on KFEQ (680AM/95.3FM).
You can follow Matt on X @KfeqMatt.