TORONTO -- Troy Tulowitzki, Josh Donaldson and the rest of the Toronto Blue Jays were eager to return to their home-run friendly Rogers Centre after dropping the first two games of the American League Championship Series in Kansas City.
They showed everyone why.
The Blue Jays came out swinging and their rowdy fans were singing from the start, with Tulowitzki and Donaldson hitting home runs in a six-run third inning as Toronto roughed up Johnny Cueto and the Royals for an 11-8 victory that cut Kansas City's series lead to 2-1.
"That's really what we're all about," Toronto Manager John Gibbons said. "We desperately needed that breakout."
Veteran knuckleballer R.A. Dickey will try to get the Blue Jays even in the best-of-seven series this afternoon. He faces Kansas City's 6-10 right-hander Chris Young in Game 4.
Second baseman Ryan Goins also hit a home run and had a two-run single after his misplayed pop fly set off Kansas City's winning rally in Game 2 Sunday.
The Royals tried to come back this time, too, scoring four runs in the ninth before Roberto Osuna closed it out.
Tulowitzki never really cooled off at the plate.
He was ejected for arguing balls and strikes before the top of the eighth after striking out looking in the bottom of the seventh,
Tulowitzki was restrained by teammates as he argued with home-plate umpire John Hirschbeck when the Blue Jays took the field for the eighth. Gibbons and bench coach DeMarlo Hale also came out to break it up.
Toronto ended up being outhit 15-11, but it pounced on Kansas City's pitching in the first ALCS game in Toronto since 1993. It was their most runs ever at home in the postseason -- after scoring three in two games in Kansas City.
Kansas City scored four times off starter Marcus Stroman, who yielded 11 hits in 61/3 innings. He walked one and struck out one.
The Royals added four in the ninth, capped by Kendrys Morales' two-run home run off Osuna.
Many in the crowd of 49,751 serenaded Cueto with a sing-song "Cueto-Cueto!" chant from the game's first pitch and never quieted down.
The Royals took a quick lead on Stroman when Alcides Escobar led off the game with a sinking liner that went under right fielder Jose Bautista's glove for a triple. Ben Zobrist drove in Escobar with a grounder, but that was the only lead Kanas City would hold as its nine-game ALCS winning streak, dating back to 1985, came to an end.
Cueto appeared flustered by the crowd after an easy first inning. But it went downhill from there. At one point in the third inning he threw his hands up in frustration after gesturing for a new cycle of signs from catcher Salvador Perez.
Goins singled in two runs in the second after Tulowitzki singled with one out and Russell Martin was hit by a pitch that knocked off his left elbow guard. Goins pulled into second on the throw home and shouted and pumped his arms.
Tulowitzki, nursing a sore shoulder that sidelined him in September, entered the game in a 4-for-29 postseason slump. But he hit the Blue Jays' first ALCS homer after Edwin Encarnacion singled and Chris Colabello walked to start the third.
"Battling with the shoulder at times, but trying to gut it out," Tulowitzki said.
Cueto was coming off an eight-inning performance in Game 5 of the ALDS, retiring his last 19 batters. But after giving up Pillar's RBI double in the third, he was done.
Cueto gave up 6 hits and 8 runs in 2-plus innings. He walked four and hit a batter with a pitch. As fans sang Cueto off the field, he smiled and tossed his gum near the Royals dugout.
Donaldson hit a home run two batters after Kris Medlen entered for a 9-2 lead, and Goins homered off Medlen in the fifth as Toronto matched its postseason best with three home runs in a game. The Blue Jays also hit three against Texas in Game 4 of the ALDS.
Stroman, 24, gave up two runs in the fifth on a wild pitch and an RBI single. He allowed four runs and 11 hits.
But many Blue Jays fans were confident enough with a 10-4 lead to sing "Happy Birthday" to Bautista when he came to bat in the sixth. Bautista drove in a run in the eighth.
Sports on 10/20/2015