Kansas City Royals starting pitcher Jeff Francis throws against the Toronto Blue Jays during first inning MLB baseball action in Toronto Thursday, August 25, 2011. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darren CalabreseDarren Calabrese/The Canadian Press
The Blue Jays were hoping to put their best foot forward what with newcomer Kelly Johnson having arrived and taking his place in the lineup, playing second base and batting seventh.
Instead the Blue Jays tripped up, displaying a lethal combination of questionable defence and shoddy pitching to fall 9-6 to a last-placed Royals team that won two of three during their Toronto visit.
Although manager John Farrell stuck with starter Brett Cecil into the seventh, his expiry date was at least an inning earlier when he gave up four hits and two more runs that boosted the Royals lead to 4-0.
A Melky Cabrera home run in the seventh ended the night for Cecil (4-7), on the hook for five K.C. runs off nine hits.
Johnson went 1-for-2 with two walks in his Toronto debut and he made a nice throw to the plate in the eighth to cut down Mitch Maier.
Canadian Jeff Francis of North Delta, B.C., earned the win for the Royals, allowing two runs off six hits through 7.1 innings to improve to 5-14 on the year.
DEFENSIVE WOES
The Blue Jays didn't do themselves any favours in the field. Jose Bautista and Johnson couldn't get their act together to corral a high drive down the line in shallow right field off the bat of Billy Butler in the fourth. Butler would come around to score the second Royals run. And in the sixth, left-fielder Eric Thames threw to the wrong base that allowed Salvador Perez to move into scoring position at second.
ARENCIBIA TIES MARK
With a two-run home run blast off Francis in the seventh inning, Toronto catcher J.P. Arencibia now has 20 on the season. That ties the rookie for the franchise single-season home-run mark among catchers with John Buck, who stroked 20 last year.
IT WAS NICE KNOWING YOU
With Johnson's arrival, the Blue Jays had to make a roster move and the odd man out was Darin Mastroianni, who was sent back to Triple A in Las Vegas. Mastroianni was only up for one game, his Major League debut, on Wednesday in the second game against the Royals and started in centre field.
FARRELL LEAVES GAME
Manager John Farrell had to leave the dugout late in the game after experiencing muscle pain in his upper left side. He did not meet with reporters after the Blue Jays' loss. A team spokesman said Farrell is undergoing a battery of tests.