The Toronto Blue Jays have not been kind to Edinson Volquez over the years, using him as a personal punching bag whenever he pitches against them.
The veteran right hander was 0-4 in six career starts against Toronto, with an earned-run average that is tipping just south of 10.
Those are lip-licking statistics and the Blue Jays were intent on inflicting even more grief on Volquez on Friday night, when he took the mound at Kauffman Stadium for the opening game of the American League Championship Series.
Volquez had other ideas.
Basically emptying his tank over six rugged innings, Volquez continually stymied the Blue Jays and finally left a winner with the Royals recording a workmanlike 5-0 victory to draw first blood in the ALCS.
Changing his speeds deftly and able to find the corners with a solid knuckle-curveball, Volquez was solid in earning his first postseason victory and helping to put Toronto in an early hole in the best-of-seven series.
Volquez held Toronto's big bats to just two hits, striking out five and walking four before turning the game over to the vaunted K.C. bullpen to close it out.
The second game of the series is in Kansas City on Saturday afternoon, with the Blue Jays sending left-hander David Price to the mound to counter Yordano Ventura.
Toronto's bullpen got a boost when reliever Aaron Loup, who missed Toronto's final two games of the AL Division Series against the Texas Rangers attending to a personal family matter, was suited up and ready to go Friday.
With Brett Cecil down and out with a calf injury, Loup is the only left-hander for Toronto manager John Gibbons to call on out of the bullpen.
For Gibbons, this is like old-home week in Kansas City, returning to the city where he was the bench coach for three years, from 2009 through 2011, when Ned Yost also came on board as the Royals' manager.
The two became fast friends and could be the presidents of each other's fan club.
"I love Gibby," Yost said when asked before Game 1 about his relationship with the Toronto bench boss.
"I love Ned," came Gibbons's first response when asked about Yost.
Yost said Gibbons is a great baseball mind and his only regret during their working relationship together is that he didn't tap into that knowledge as much as he should have.
"It was my fault, but I didn't take full advantage of Gibby when he was here," Yost said before Game 1. "At that time, I was still a little bit on the hardheaded side and managed the game all by myself.
"And here the last couple of years I've learned to include my coaches a lot more in the decision-making process and the end game decision-making process."
Gibbons said Yost did not need any help.
"There were times he'd bounce things off of me," Gibbons said. "A lot of times in the American League you don't need as much of that necessarily. But he knew what he was doing."
Friday's game lacked the tension-laced theatrics that unfolded throughout Toronto's opening playoff round against the Texas Rangers, a best-of-five affair that the Blue Jays won 3-2.
The Royals drew first blood, scoring twice in the bottom of the third inning for a 2-0 lead.
Alex Gordon got it going with a leadoff double and scored when Alcides Escobar sliced a hit just inside the bag at first.
With Escobar standing at second, Lorenzo Cain grounded through the right side for a single that carded Escobar.
Cain remains hot as the hit extended his post-season hit streak to 10 games.
Salvadore Perez stepped into the batter's box for K.C. with two out in the fourth and cranked his third home run of the current postseason off Toronto starter Marco Estrada to left to increase the Royals lead to 3-0.
Estrada pitched well enough to win but was done in by the lack of offence, allowing three runs off six hits while striking out six over 5 1/3 innings to get saddled with the loss.
Working with the lead, Volquez was pushed to the limit in the sixth inning, during which the Blue Jays did everything they could to crack his shell.
With Josh Donaldson and Jose Bautista drawing back-to-back walks to lead off the inning, it marked the first time in the game that Toronto had two base runners on in the same inning.
A visibly tiring Volquez, his pitch count already over 100, had to dig deep and it started when he struck out Edwin Encarnacion looking. Encarnacion was later forced to leave the game to have X-rays on his left middle finger. He was diagnosed with a ligament strain.
Chris Colabello then lined out to left before Troy Tulowitzki was left gaping at a called third strike, a 95-mile-an-hour sinker, to dash Toronto's hopes.
Volquez left the game after throwing 111 pitches, 37 of them in the sixth.
The Royals scored two more runs in the eighth inning off reliever LaTroy Hawkins.