KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The Kansas City Royals kept waiting for Blue Jays ace David Price to give them some hope.
It turned out to be Toronto's leaky defense that provided it.
After managing one hit over six innings, Ben Zobrist's easy fly that somehow fell for a hit began a five-run rally against 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.
"We needed to catch a break," the Royals' Alex Gordon said, "and Zobrist's ball was it."
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."
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Even though they looked foolish flailing at Price's pitches -- until the lazy fly ball by Zobrist changed everything. They proceeded to string together four singles and a double in their go-ahead inning, getting run-producing hits from Gordon, Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas and Alex Rios, along with an RBI groundout from Kendrys Morales.
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 (see full recap).
Murphy, d'Arnaud homer to help Mets to Game 1 win
NEW YORK -- Matt Harvey limited Chicago to four hits over 7 2-3 innings, Daniel Murphy and Travis d'Arnaud homered off Jon Lester and the New York Mets beat the Cubs 4-2 Saturday night in the opener of the NL Championship Series.
Harvey allowed two runs and struck out nine, leaving after Kyle Schwarber's 459-foot home run. Jeurys Familia finished for the save, with Murphy making a diving stop at second base for the final out.
Murphy put the Mets ahead in the first, matching a team record by homering in his third straight postseason game. Starlin Castro tied the score in the fifth with an RBI double over center fielder Juan Lagares, but Curtis Granderson's RBI single gave the Mets a 2-1 lead in the bottom half.
D'Arnaud homered in the sixth, a drive that clanked off the celebratory home run apple behind the center-field wall, and Granderson made it 4-2 with a seventh-inning sacrifice fly that chased Lester.
Major league wins leader Jake Arrieta starts for the Cubs on Sunday night against rookie Noah Syndergaard (see full recap).