Toronto Blue Jays third baseman Josh Donaldson (20) celebrates with right fielder Jose Bautista (19) after hitting a home run against Kansas City Royals in the fourth inning at Rogers Centre.Dan Hamilton
Josh Donaldson, Russell Martin and Dioner Navarro each hit home runs to lift the Toronto Blue Jays to a 5-2 win over the Kansas City Royals at Rogers Centre on Thursday night.
The victory over the best team in the American League comes hours after drastically improving their starting rotation by acquiring David Price.
Jose Bautista hit a sacrifice fly for Toronto (52-51), while right-hander Marco Estrada (8-6) pitched effectively over 5 2/3 innings, giving up two runs on three hits and fanning three. Roberto Osuna worked the ninth for his sixth save of the year.
Kendrys Morales drove in two runs for the Royals (61-40). Lefty Danny Duffy (4-5) gave up five runs over six innings to shoulder the loss.
The Blue Jays made a splash earlier in the day, snagging Price from Detroit in exchange for a trio of pitching prospects, including left-hander Daniel Norris.
The move came two days after GM Alex Anthopoulos added shortstop Troy Tulowitzki and 42-year-old reliever LaTroy Hawkins from Colorado.
Kansas City tried to squash the euphoria of the Price trade early, scoring two in the first inning off Morales' two-out double. Lorenzo Cain, who was hit by a pitch, and Eric Hosmer, who reached on a single, came in to score.
Bautista got one back for the Blue Jays in the bottom of the frame with a sac fly, plating Tulowitzki from third base.
Navarro's home run made it 3-2 for Toronto in the second inning. Kevin Pillar led off with a bloop single to right before Navarro crushed a 2-1 offering from Duffy into the left-field seats.
Martin extended the lead to 4-2 with a solo homer in the third and Donaldson added another run in the fourth with a monster shot to the second-deck seats in left field.
Estrada had retired 15 straight batters following Morales' two-run double in the first inning. He left the game after allowing a single to Cain in the sixth. Brett Cecil got a ground out from Eric Hosmer to end the frame.
Hawkins, in his second appearance for Toronto, gave up back-to-back two-out singles in the seventh before striking out Jarrod Dyson. Aaron Sanchez worked a scoreless eighth.
NOTES: The Blue Jays have homered in 12 straight games, setting a franchise record. ... Toronto continues its four-game series against Kansas City on Friday night. RHP Drew Hutchison (9-2, 5.42 earned-run average) will start for the Blue Jays while RHP Johnny Cueto (7-6, 2.62 ERA) is expected to make his Royals debut.