Blue Jays rally from seven-run deficit to win

TORONTO (AP) -- Mike MacDougal and the Kansas City Royals aren't invincible.

The Toronto Blue Jays overcame a seven-run deficit, scoring six

runs in the ninth inning to beat the Royals 10-9 Sunday as

MacDougal blew a save chance for the first time this season.

Toronto trailed 8-1 before scoring one run in the seventh and

two in the eighth. Mike Bordick's single tied it, and the winning

run scored on an error by shortstop Angel Berroa.

"It was a tough loss,'' MacDougal said. "I don't know what to

say. It was a bad inning.''

Shannon Stewart's RBI double in the seventh pulled Toronto to

8-2, and Josh Phelps' RBI double and pinch-hitter Greg Myers'

run-scoring single made it 8-4 in the eighth.

Kansas City, which dropped to 17-5, boosted its lead to 9-4 in

the ninth on an RBI single by Desi Relaford.

Toronto then opened the bottom half with singles by Stewart and

Frank Catalanotto off Ryan Buckvich and a walk by Vernon Wells that loaded the bases.

Carlos Delgado's RBI grounder and Phelps' two-run double made it

9-7.

MacDougal (1-1), who had been 9-for-9 in save chances, allowed a

double to Eric Hinske, hit Tom Wilson with a pitch and gave up an

RBI grounder to Dave Berg that pulled the Blue Jays within a run.

Bordick followed with a single that tied the score, and Stewart

hit an a grounder to Berroa, whose throw to second base sailed past

Relaford, allowing Berg to score.

"I was too quick with my throw, and I threw it away,'' Berroa

said.

Stewart was given an infield single on the play. Cliff Politte

(1-2) got one out for the win.

"That was pretty exciting,'' Bordick said. "Kansas City has

been playing really well early on. To win a series like that

against them is a great confidence builder.''

Fans continued to turn out despite Toronto's SARS outbreak. The

Blue Jays drew 16,417 spectators Friday, 17,197 on Saturday and

17,059 on Sunday, their second-, third- and fourth-biggest crowds

this season.

Kansas City, which outhit the Blue Jays 17-16, quickly built a

lead. Relaford hit Pete Walker's first pitch of the game for a

single before Joe Randa homered on Walker's second pitch.

"I don't think I've ever seen that in 13 years of professional

baseball,'' Wilson said. "A hit and a homer on the first two

pitches of the game, that's different.''

Walker, who received a mock cheer when his third pitch of the

game was called a strike, allowed Kansas City's first six hitters

to reach.

He gave up five runs in the first inning and allowed

back-to-back home runs to Carlos Beltran and Mike Sweeney in the second.

Sweeney's RBI single in the fourth gave Kansas City an 8-1 lead.

Staked to a big lead, Kansas City's Runelvys Hernandez allowed

two runs and seven hits in seven innings. Hernandez, who turned 25

Sunday, struck out four and walked one.

After Randa homered in the first, Beltran hit an infield single

and Walker walked three straight batters before Brent Mayne hit

into a run-scoring double play. Berroa's RBI single made it 5-0.

Walker allowed eight runs and 10 hits and in 3 1/3 innings.

"The win definitely took a lot of pain away,'' Walker said. "I

felt miserable coming out of the game that early. I felt I really

let them down. Right from the get-go they were hacking. I left some

balls over the plate and I never really recovered from that first

inning.

Game notes

In an effort to show that Toronto is safe despite the SARS

outbreak, the Blue Jays' parent company is offering $1 dollar

tickets for Tuesday's game against the Texas Rangers. Rogers

Communications Inc., which owns the Blue Jays, said Sunday it had

bought all unsold tickets for the game and "would bring the

community together at SkyDome. ... to show its support for the city

of Toronto.'' The offer came four days after the World Health

Organization warned against travel to Toronto because of the

outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome. ... Players from

both teams signed autographs with fans' pens despite the SARS

scare.