The Kansas City Royals have thrown a wrench into the Toronto Blue Jays’ postseason plans, delivering back-to-back blows at Kauffman Stadium that will be talked about for some time. In a wild two-game stretch, the Royals first dealt Toronto its worst loss of the season—a 20-1 drubbing that exposed the Blue Jays’ pitching woes—then followed up with a gritty 2-1 win Saturday night, preventing the Jays from clinching a playoff spot and extending their losing streak to four games.
Friday night’s game was a nightmare for Toronto from the very first pitch. Max Scherzer, the Blue Jays’ veteran ace, couldn’t escape the first inning, surrendering seven earned runs while recording just two outs. The carnage didn’t stop there. Manager John Schneider and pitching coach Pete Walker were both ejected in a heated exchange with umpires, leaving the Blue Jays’ bench in disarray. With the bullpen taxed and the game spiraling out of control, Toronto turned to four relievers and, in a desperate move, two position players—including backup catcher Tyler Heineman—to get through the night.
What happened next was historic, albeit for all the wrong reasons. Heineman, pressed into service on the mound, became the first player in Major League Baseball history to allow at least 13 hits and 10 runs in a relief outing of less than two innings. Over 33 pitches, he yielded his first run on three singles, then watched as Jac Caglianone crushed a 54-mph offering over the right-field fence for a home run, ballooning the Royals’ lead to 14-1 in the seventh inning. The eighth brought more misery for Heineman: after a brief reprieve with a fly out from Carter Jensen, he gave up eight straight hits, resulting in six more runs before infielder Isiah Kiner-Falefa mercifully took over on the mound.
Heineman’s previous forays as an emergency pitcher had been forgettable but nowhere near this catastrophic. He’d thrown one inning in a 15-1 loss to the Red Sox in June and another in a 14-2 blowout win over the Rangers in August, carrying a 9.00 ERA into Friday night. That number has now skyrocketed to an eye-watering 32.40. "It’s a tough spot to be in, but you do what you can for the team," Heineman said postgame, his voice betraying exhaustion and disbelief. The Blue Jays, meanwhile, still hold a three-game lead over the Yankees in the AL East and possess the season tiebreaker, but their momentum has clearly stalled.
The Royals, for their part, showed no mercy. Jac Caglianone, the rookie who homered off Heineman’s slow pitch, finished that lopsided contest 2-for-5 with four RBIs and three runs scored. The home run was his seventh of the season, and the four RBIs brought his total to 18 over 56 games, though his batting average sits at .163. The Royals’ bats had come alive for a franchise-record 27 hits in that game, leaving the Blue Jays shell-shocked and searching for answers.
But baseball has a funny way of flipping the script from one night to the next. On Saturday, the Royals didn’t need a barrage of hits—just timely power and standout pitching. Noah Cameron, Kansas City’s rookie left-hander, delivered his third straight quality start, pitching into the seventh inning and allowing only one run on three hits, with two walks and five strikeouts. Cameron’s performance earned him his ninth win of the season, tying Bill Butler’s 1969 franchise record for most wins by a Royals rookie lefty. “I just wanted to give the team a chance after the big win yesterday,” Cameron said. “We’re playing with a lot of confidence right now.”
The Royals’ offense, though quiet compared to the previous night, struck with precision in the fourth inning. Bobby Witt Jr. led off with his 23rd home run of the year, and Vinnie Pasquantino followed with his 31st, marking the fourth time this season Kansas City has hit back-to-back homers. Witt added a hustle double in the sixth, notching his 44th multi-hit game of the season. The Royals only managed four hits all night, but they made them count.
Toronto’s Shane Bieber did his best to keep the Jays in it, tossing 6 1/3 innings and allowing just two runs on four hits and a walk, while striking out four. It was his longest outing for Toronto this year, though it ended with his first career loss at Kauffman Stadium (he’s now 3-1 in nine starts in Kansas City). The Blue Jays’ offense, meanwhile, was stymied until Daulton Varsho launched his 19th home run in the seventh, giving Toronto a glimmer of hope.
The ninth inning brought high drama. With one out and a runner at first, John Rave, the Royals’ center fielder, made a spectacular running catch on Varsho’s deep drive to the left-center track. Moments later, he sprinted in to snag Ernie Clement’s fly ball, securing the win and sending the home crowd into a frenzy. Carlos Estévez nailed down his league-leading 41st save, working around a one-out single from Ty France to slam the door on Toronto’s comeback bid.
The only sour note for Kansas City came in the seventh inning when Jac Caglianone, fresh off his big game the night before, was hit by a pitch on the right elbow during a plate appearance. He was immediately replaced by a pinch runner, and the extent of his injury remained unclear as of Saturday night. According to Jaylon T. Thompson of The Kansas City Star, Caglianone was expected to undergo imaging later Saturday or Sunday. The Royals will be anxiously awaiting results, hoping their young slugger can avoid a lengthy absence.
For the Blue Jays, the loss marked their fourth straight defeat, matching their second-longest skid of the 2025 campaign. With the Yankees still lurking three games back in the AL East and the playoff race tightening, Toronto’s inability to clinch a postseason berth in Kansas City will sting. The Royals, meanwhile, have relished the role of spoiler, combining historic offense, clutch pitching, and just a touch of chaos to light up the late September baseball scene.
As the series wraps up, Kansas City will send Michael Wacha (9-12, 3.79 ERA) to the mound for their regular-season home finale, while Toronto counters with rookie Trey Yesavage (0-0, 1.80 ERA). With both teams still fighting for different goals and the postseason picture far from settled, the action at Kauffman Stadium is anything but over.
