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Monday, Apr. 3 4:05pm ET
Batista's two HRs leads Blue Jays | |||||
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
TORONTO (AP) -- Tony Batista started paying back the Toronto Blue Jays for the big contract they gave him during the offseason. "I know I'm going to have more opportunities here," Batista said Monday after his second home run of the game, a drive with two outs in the ninth, gave the Blue Jays a 5-4 opening-day win over the Kansas City Royals. Batista, who had 31 homers and 100 RBI last season, hit a two-run homer off Jeff Suppan in the fourth and connected again in the ninth off Jerry Spradlin. During the offseason, Toronto gave Batista a $16 million, four-year deal. "I have more security," Batista said. "But this is another year. I'm not thinking about last year. I need to keep working hard." Shannon Stewart also homered twice for the Blue Jays , who drew 40,898, 10,000 under capacity, to SkyDome. The crowd included 10,000 school kids who got in for free. "We have a very talented team here," Stewart said. "We have power, we have speed, we can play defense, we have good pitching. Hopefully, this is the start of good things for us this year." It was a rocky start for the Royals' bullpen. Last year, Kansas City blew 39 of 59 save chances. "It's not a sign," Royals manager Tony Muser said. "It's just the first game. We've got a lot of games left." Toronto closer Billy Koch got his first career win after wasting a 4-2 lead in the ninth when Gregg Zaun hit a two-run single. Stewart hit opposite-field homers to right-center in the first and fifth innings as the Blue Jays took a 4-0 lead. David Wells, who hadn't pitched since March 26 because of back spasms, took a shutout into the seventh, when Jermaine Dye hit an RBI double. Joe Randa then had an RBI infield single off Paul Quantrill. Wells struck out five, allowing five hits in six-plus innings. Royals starter Jeff Suppan, who was sick with the flu Sunday, gave up four runs and five hits in five innings. "I've been around a while," Wells said. "I know what it takes to go out and pitch. Even though I haven't been pitching a lot lately, I kept my arm in shape."
Game notes | ALSO SEE Baseball Scoreboard Kansas City Clubhouse Toronto Clubhouse RECAPS Cleveland 4 Baltimore 1
Toronto 5
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