Blue Jays Rain Hits, Runs on Royals in 18-1 Victory

A wet field kept the Toronto Blue Jays from taking batting practice Friday night.

So they took it out on the Kansas City pitchers.

Vernon Wells homered, doubled twice and singled as the Blue Jays rapped 22 hits and trounced the Royals, 18-1.

“With this lineup, once things get rolling it’s fun to watch,” Wells said.

“We’ve been swinging the bats well lately and this is just another game that we did. We put the ball in play. When you can do that consistently, hits just keep on rolling.”

Wells drove in four runs and scored three. The Blue Jays had season highs in runs and hits.

Every Toronto starter had at least one hit and scored a run. The Royals hurt themselves by throwing five wild pitches, three of them allowing runs to score.

“Everybody has games like that. You just hope they don’t happen very often,” Royal catcher Mike DiFelice said.

Shannon Stewart and Tom Wilson each had three hits. Stewart left after seven innings and his replacement, Reed Johnson, had two hits.

It was 5-0 before Toronto broke open the game by getting four runs in the sixth inning and seven more in the eighth.

“We’ve got a good hitting club,” Blue Jay Manager Carlos Tosca said. “You’ve got to bring your ‘A’ game when you face us.”