JAYS RALLY TO EDGE ROYALS IN 11

TORONTO Josh Donaldson hit a walkoff single in the bottom of the 11th inning as the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Kansas City Royals 7-6 on Friday night.

Donaldson singled off Royals reliever Franklin Morales to drive home Troy Tulowitzki from second base for the Jays’ third straight win. Tulowitzki went 2-for-5 in his third game with Toronto.

The Blue Jays (53-51) were able to erase a three-run deficit twice against the AL Central-leading Royals (61-41) in the victory.

Toronto starter Drew Hutchison allowed just three earned runs in five innings of work.

Kansas City’s newest ace, Johnny Cueto, made his debut, allowing three runs and striking out seven over six innings.

Blue Jays relievers Aaron Sanchez, Robert Osuna, Brett Cecil and Liam Hendricks, meanwhile, combined for four perfect innings. Hendricks picked up the win — pushing his record to 3-0.

With Cueto done after 111 pitches in six innings, that’s when the Blue Jays chipped away. Tulowitzki’s single to centre somehow got past Lorenzo Cain to get one run home, and that error opened the door for a three-run inning.

Tulowitzki singled and got to second on a balk called on Morales in the 11th before Donaldson drove him in.

With David Price starting Monday, R.A. Dickey will pitch on short rest Sunday in the series finale with the Royals. Attendance at Rogers Centre was 29,388.