Vinnie Pasquantino and Salvador Perez homered early, Randy Dobnak went six strong innings, and the manager laid out how Kansas City will handle its injuries this week.
Jac Caglianone spent Sunday with no baseball activity at all, and the Kansas City Royals lineup that played without him beat the Toronto Blue Jays 6-1 at Kauffman Stadium to avoid a sweep.
It followed losses on Friday and Saturday and came with a real update on the one player this team cannot afford to lose for long.
Pasquantino Gets His Redemption Quickly
Saturday night was a hard one for Pasquantino, who hit into a double play in the eighth with the tying and go-ahead runs on base, and Sunday he did not have to wait long to make up for it.
John Rave beat out an infield single to lead off the first, Bobby Witt Jr. walked, and Pasquantino hit a three-run homer to right center off Spencer Arrighetti, his 11th of the season.
Witt doubled to open the third and Perez hit a two-run homer to left center two batters later, his 19th of the year and the 322nd of his career, for a 5-0 lead.
That was plenty for Dobnak, who allowed four hits and one run in six innings, a big step forward after six runs against Miami on Tuesday, and four relievers kept Toronto off the board the rest of the way.
Quatraro Explains the Caglianone Plan
Before the game, Quatraro said imaging showed a Grade 1 flexor strain in Caglianone's left elbow, and the hope is that he stays off the injured list.
The injury happened on a 95.2 mph throw from right field toward third base in the second inning Saturday, and he left that game before the third inning.
Quatraro said Caglianone will not throw for the next couple of days, the club will see how he feels by Tuesday or Wednesday, and he could serve as the designated hitter for a bit before going back to the field.
"Now that we know it's low grade, then we can progress a little more aggressively when the time comes. But definitely a day today with no activity," Quatraro said.
That is the right call.
Caglianone is hitting .283 with 23 home runs and a team-leading 70 RBIs, he was the American League Player of the Month for August, and he is 23 years old.
With 18 games left and the Royals 9 games out of the last wild card spot, nothing about the standings is worth risking his elbow.
Arizona Series Tests the Rotation
Kansas City sits at 64-80, 11 games back in the American League Central, and has won two of its last seven games.
Arizona comes to Kauffman Stadium on Monday for three games, with Noah Cameron, who is 9-8 with a 4.08 ERA, starting the opener, Michael Wacha going Tuesday and Daniel Lynch IV on Wednesday.
Thursday is an off day before a trip to Boston.
Michael Massey came off the concussion list on Wednesday in the shuffle that followed, Maikel Garcia may not be back from his hamstring strain until late September, and Carlos Estévez has season-ending shoulder surgery scheduled for Tuesday.
Sunday showed the lineup can score without Caglianone for a few days, but the last three weeks should be about getting him healthy and giving Cameron and Lynch more starts.
