CANADIAN PRESS
TORONTO — Not long after he had entrenched himself even deeper into the team’s record book, sparking the Toronto Blue Jays to a stirring win in the process, Vernon Wells was asked how he views his growing collection of milestones.
"It just means I’m getting old," he said with a smile.
Wells hit a home run and a pair of doubles against the Kansas City Royals on Tuesday night, powering the home team to a 4-3 win at Rogers Centre. He also moved past Joe Carter and into sole possession of third place on the team’s all-time RBI list, collecting the 737th of his career.
Shawn Camp earned his first win of the season by pitching 1.2 scoreless innings in relief of starter Dana Eveland, who finally drifted to earth after a stellar start to his career in Toronto. The Blue Jays won for the second night in a row, but struggled again at the gate, drawing fewer than 11,000 fans (10,565) for the fourth time this season.
"Winning is what brought fans here in the early-90s," Wells said. "And it’s what will do it again, once we get back to where we need to be."
The 31-year-old is only three RBI behind George Bell (740) for second-most in franchise history, though well behind Carlos Delgado (1,058) for the all-time lead. Wells is also one home run away from the 200th of his career, and ranks in the top four of just about every meaningful batting record the Blue Jays keep.
He already has seven home runs this season, nearly half of where he finished last year (15), after a difficult campaign in which he became the regular subject of jeers from the stands. Wells had broken his left wrist in 2008.
"Vernon’s not going to say that, maybe, his hands and wrist were bothering him last year," Blue Jays manager Cito Gaston said. "I don’t think he’d say it, because he never said it to us last year. But he’s off to a great start, and I just hope he continues to go that way and stay healthy."
Toronto snapped a three-game losing streak with a thorough dissection of Kansas City on Monday. The Blue Jays rolled to an 8-1 win on the power of a balanced offence and solid pitching from starter Brandon Morrow, and entered the second game of the series hoping to continue the momentum.
The Blue Jays took a 1-0 lead in the first inning after Fred Lewis, the outfielder acquired in a trade with San Francisco on April 15, knocked a ground rule double into the stands off the third base line. He scored two batters later, on a sacrifice fly from Adam Lind.
Eveland stumbled with the lead. The 26-year-old set a franchise record over his first two starts of the season by going 11 1/3 innings without allowing a run, the most by a Blue Jays starter to begin his career with the team.
He conceded back-to-back singles to open the second inning. One of those batters came around to score when Royals catcher Jason Kendall hit a single of his own. Kendall has registered a hit in each of his first 13 games, matching Kansas City’s second-longest streak to open the season — but is still six behind the record, set by George Brett in 1983.
The Royals added another run in the third inning to take a 3-1 lead and draw Blue Jays pitching coach Bruce Walton to the mound for a visit. Eveland had already thrown 60 pitches, and seemed to struggle with the control that had defined his earlier outings.
Eveland’s evening ended after another visit to the mound, made by manager Cito Gaston in the sixth inning. Toronto was trailing 3-2 at the time, and the left-hander had thrown 94 pitches.
"It was a tough game," Eveland said. "I didn’t have my best stuff and, obviously, it showed."
Wells provided Toronto’s second run of the game on the end of his seventh home run of the season, a solo shot that bounced from the facing above the 200 Level in left. He had entered the game tied with the second-most home runs in the American League.
"You can’t mess up to him," Royals manager Trey Hillman said. "We know there’s a lot of power in the bat and you’ve got to make sure you hit your spots."
Kansas City missed another one of those spots in the seventh inning, when Wells collected the 300th double of his career. He scored the game-tying run when Jose Bautista singled two batters later.
Toronto took the 4-3 lead when catcher John Buck hit a chopper down the third base side that seemed to surprise the Kansas City infield. Lyle Overbay scored on the play.
"We have a great clubhouse, and everybody has a good time in here," Wells said. "And everybody wants everybody to succeed, no matter who it is. And we’ve got to win — that’s the most important thing."
NOTES : Third baseman Edwin Encarnacion remains day-to-day with soreness in his arm, and missed his sixth straight game on Tuesday night. Blue Jays manager Cito Gaston did not rule out the possibility the 27-year-old could be placed on the disabled list this week, in time to make room for returning second baseman Aaron Hill (hamstring) … Toronto closes its 10-day, 10-game homestand with a matinee against Kansas City on Wednesday … Highly-touted Toronto prospect Brett Wallace hit his fifth home run of the season with the team’s triple-A affiliate in Las Vegas on Monday. That gave the 23-year-old an average of one home run in every 8.6 at-bats this year.
