Bloop single ignites rally for Royals, who take 2-0 series lead

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Ryan Goins saw the lazy fly leave Ben Zobrist's bat and began to give chase from second base. Jose Bautista saw the same thing from right field and sprinted after the ball.

Neither of the Blue Jays wound up catching it.

A seemingly sure out turned into a hit when the ball fell in, beginning Kansas City's five-run rally against David Price in the seventh inning Saturday. The Royals rolled the rest of the way to a 6-3 victory over Toronto and a 2-0 lead in the AL Championship Series.

"I put my glove up and pretty much was saying, 'I'm going to make this play,' and then I didn't make the play," Goins explained, "so it's on me."

Luke Hochevar wiggled out of a jam to keep Kansas City in the game, and Danny Duffy and Kelvin Herrera got the ball to closer Wade Davis, who had to survive a shaky ninth to preserve the win.

Davis gave up a leadoff single and walked pinch-hitter Cliff Pennington but bounced back to strike out leadoff man Ben Revere and MVP candidate Josh Donaldson. Jose Bautista then flied out to right to give Davis his third postseason save and the Royals another postseason comeback win.

"Our guys never quit," Royals manager Ned Yost said. "They keep going."

It was a monumental collapse for Price, who had at one point recorded 18 straight outs. He fell to 0-7 in seven postseason starts, including a loss to Texas in their AL Division Series.

"I gave up hits at the wrong time," he said. "I felt good. It's a very scrappy team. They put the ball in play. They continued to battle. It's just a tough loss."

Now, the Blue Jays head home for Game 3 on Monday night in dire trouble. All but three of the previous 25 teams to take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven era have won the series — though Toronto did rally from the same hole to beat the Rangers in five games in the division round.

"We've been here before," shortstop Troy Tulowitzki said, "but it's not a place we want to be."

For most of the afternoon, the Blue Jays were exactly where they wanted to be.

And the way Price was carving up the lineup, a 3-0 advantage looked to be enough.

Price threw first-pitch strikes to 12 of 14 batters at one point and struck out the side in the sixth inning, giving no indication he was about to implode.