KANSAS CITY — The Kansas City Royals rallied with five runs in the seventh inning to beat the Toronto Blue Jays 6-3 Saturday to take a 2-0 lead in the American League Championship Series. With a berth in Major League Baseball's World Series on the line in the best-of-seven set, the Royals were trailing 3-0 when they finally got to Toronto starting pitcher David Price in the bottom of the seventh. Price had retired 18 straight batters — a Blue Jays playoff club record — including striking out three in the sixth. But the Royals launched a rally with Ben Zobrist's shallow fly to right field. Blue Jays second baseman Ryan Goins, running back, appeared to call for the ball and outfielder Jose Bautista slowed his run toward it. But neither caught it, and Zobrist had the Royals' first hit since the first inning. "We just needed to catch a break, and I felt like Zobrist's ball was it and then we started rolling," said Royals' outfielder Alex Gordon, whose double in the inning scored the go-ahead run. Lorenzo Cain then singled to right, Eric Hosmer singled to score Zobrist, Kendrys Morales grounded out to score Cain and Mike Moustakas snapped an 0-for-13 skid with a run-scoring single to tie it. After Price struck out Salvador Perez, Gordon worked the count full before belting a double that scored Morales and chased Price. Alex Rios singled in one more run off Blue Jays reliever Aaron Sanchez for a 5-3 Royals lead. They padded their lead with another run in the eighth, leaving the Blue Jays hoping a shift to Toronto for Games 3 and 4 Monday and Tuesday will signal a change in fortunes. After getting on the board with a run in the third, Toronto added two more in the sixth when designated hitter Edwin Encarnacion's single drove in third baseman Josh Donaldson and Bautista, who had walked, scored on a double from Troy Tulowitzki. In New York, the New York Mets starter Matt Harvey retired the first 12 batters on the way to a masterful 4-2 victory over the Chicago Cubs in the chilly opener of the National League Championship Series Saturday. Harvey shut down the power-hitting Cubs on four hits over 7-2/3 innings with nine strikeouts and was followed to the mound by closer Jeurys Familia, who registered the last four outs for the save. "He pitched a great game," Mets manager Terry Collins said of his starter, who is on the comeback trail this season following a lost year due to elbow surgery. Cubs manager Joe Maddon said Harvey leaned heavily on his secondary pitches on a cold, windy night that had the sell-out Citi Field crowd dressed in winter jackets and many of the players in balaclavas to keep warm. "He was outstanding," said Maddon. "Give him credit. His stuff is always good, but the command was outrageous tonight." The win gave New York a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven that determines the National League representative in the World Series and pits two teams starved for a shot at the title. Chicago is trying to reach a first World Series in 70 years and win the Major League title after a 107-year wait since their 1908 triumph. The Mets last won the Fall Classic 29 years ago. Game 2 of the best-of-seven will be played Sunday in New York, with the Cubs starting Jake Arrieta against fireballing Noah Syndergaard.
