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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) _ Todd Dunwoody went 4-for-4 and drove in
three runs and Johnny Damon had four hits and two RBIs as the
Kansas City Royals rallied to beat the Toronto Blue Jays 8-7 Monday
night. Damon, 4-for-5, hit a two-run double off reliever Lance Painter
in the sixth inning to give the Royals a 5-4 lead in a game delayed
2 hours, 54 minutes at the start by rain. Dunwoody, who had two doubles and two singles, hit a two-run RBI
double in the seventh to make it 8-4. Carlos Delgado tripled in the eighth for Toronto and scored on
Tony Batista's bloop single to make it 8-5. Dave Martinez and Delgado added RBI singles off Ricky Bottalico
in the ninth to make it a one-run game. Bottalico held on for his
12th save in 18 opportunities. Blake Stein (3-3) allowed nine hits and four runs, struck out
four and walked three in 6 2-3 innings. Damon is 55-for-112 (.491) with 16 doubles and 19 RBIs since the
All-Star break, raising his average from .267 to .324. It was his
fourth four-hit game since the break. The game got off to an ominous start for the Royals. Shannon Stewart hit a leadoff home run and Brad Fullmer added a
three-run shot to give the Blue Jays a 4-0 lead against Stein in
the first. But Stein, who held the New York Yankees to two hits in eight
innings in his previous start, shut out the Blue Jays on six hits
through the next 5 2-3 innings. Stewart hit a single and a double for his fifth consecutive
multihit game for the Blue Jays, who have lost eight of their last
11. Stewart is batting .366 leading off games, with four doubles,
two triples and four homers. Two of his leadoff homers have come
against the Royals. The Royals got a run in the second on Dunwoody's RBI double and
a run in the third on Joe Randa's sacrifice fly. Damon made it 4-3 in the fifth when he bunted safely and scored
from second on Mike Sweeney's single after stealing his
league-leading 34th base. With one out in the sixth, Dunwoody and Gregg Zaun singled off
Esteban Loaiza (6-8) and Carlos Febles was hit by a pitch, bringing
left-hander Painter out of the bullpen to face the left-handed
Damon. On a 1-1 pitch, Damon lined a two-run double to right field. Rey
Sanchez made it 6-4 with a run-scoring groundout. Loaiza went 5 1-3 innings and gave up six runs on nine hits,
with two walks and two strikeouts. Notes: The Blue Jays lead the AL with 186 homers, and the Royals
lead with 178 homers allowed. ... Right fielder Jermaine Dye made a
fine effort on Mickey Morandini's sinking liner in the fourth, but
it dropped in for a single _ Morandini's first AL hit. ... The
Royals and Blue Jays had not met since they opened the season at
SkyDome April 3-6. ... It was Dunwoody's third four-hit game and
second this season. The last time was June 16th against Oakland.
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