| |
RECAP
|
BOX SCORE
|
GAME LOG
TORONTO (AP) -- The Blue Jays may be the best-kept secret in
Toronto.
Before the smallest crowd in SkyDome history, Shannon Stewart
hit his third home run of the season and Jose Cruz hit a two-run
shot as Toronto beat the Kansas City Royals 6-3 Tuesday night.
|  | | Toronto's Jose Cruz Jr. watches his two-run homer leave the park in the second inning. |
Only 13,514 fans watched the Blue Jays improve to 2-0.
"The Raptors were playing tonight and until hockey and
basketball is over, it is going to be a struggle," Toronto manager
Jim Fregosi said. "We've got a good club and if we continue to
win, they'll come out."
The previous smallest crowd at SkyDome, which opened in 1989,
was 20,258 last May 4 against Oakland.
Batting coach Cito Gaston, who once managed the Blue Jays before
4 million fans for three straight years in the early 1990s, shook
his head in disbelief of the decline.
"You think it is going to go on forever, but unfortunately it
hasn't happened that way," he said. "We are a young and exciting
team, and if we can get back to where we were in the early '90s,
the fans will come back."
Stewart, who hit 11 home runs in 608 at-bats last season, tied
it 3-3 with a solo shot in the fifth inning. The Blue Jays leadoff
man homered twice on opening day.
Cruz lined a 428-foot homer off a SkyDome restaurant window in
the fourth inning.
Billy Koch, who blew a save chance Monday, worked the ninth for
a save.
"I noticed the lack of fans as soon as I got to the bullpen
before the game," Koch said. "It was like, `Jeez, is this it?' I
was wondering if they thought it was an 8 o'clock start. I don't
know what more we can do."
After Kansas City starter Jay Witasick (0-1) walked Brad Fullmer
and hit Tony Batista with a pitch to start the sixth, Darrin
Fletcher hit a two-run double to make it 5-3.
Fullmer's RBI single in the seventh off Dan Reichert gave the
Blue Jays a 6-3 lead.
Roy Halladay (1-0) did not allow a hit until Jermaine Dye
homered with two outs in the fourth, cutting Toronto's lead to 2-1
.
"It was another game where we battled back but we just couldn't
come up with the win," Dye said.
The Royals took a 3-2 lead in the fifth on Brian Johnson's
sacrifice fly and Carlos Febles' RBI single.
Halladay allowed five hits in seven innings.
Game notes
Four batters were hit in the game, two by each team. ...
The Royals used the same lineup against left-hander David Wells on
opening day as they did against right-hander Halladay. ... Fregosi
turned 58 on Tuesday.
| |
ALSO SEE
Baseball Scoreboard
Kansas City Clubhouse
Toronto Clubhouse
RECAPS
Toronto 6
Kansas City 3
Minnesota 6
Tampa Bay 5
Boston 2
Seattle 0
Texas 12
Chi. White Sox 8
NY Yankees 5
Anaheim 3
Oakland 3
Detroit 1
Milwaukee 5
Cincinnati 1
San Francisco 3
Florida 0
Los Angeles 10
Montreal 4
Houston 5
Pittsburgh 2
Colorado 5
Atlanta 3
Arizona 6
Philadelphia 4
|
