Aaron Sanchez shines for Blue Jays in ALCS rematch against Royals

Welcome to The Walk Off, the nightly MLB recap from Big League Stew. Here we’ll look at the top performers of the night, show you a must-see highlight and rundown the scoreboard. First, we start with a game you need to know about.

TORONTO – The heat between the Toronto Blue Jays and Kansas City Royals has simmered since they met in the ALCS last October, but their first meeting of 2016 wasn’t without some muscle being flexed.

Toronto starter Aaron Sanchez provided most of the firepower Monday night, and then the Blue Jays’ offense broke out in the seventh to lift the home team to a 6-2 win.

Sanchez dazzled over eight innings, taking a no-hit bid into the fifth and keeping Kansas City from scoring until Kendrys Morales sent a ball over the wall in right center field in the seventh to snap the shutout.

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This latest gem only helps Sanchez solidify his case to be an All-Star. Fourteen of his 17 outings have reached the standards needed to qualify as a quality start, matching Madison Bumgarner, Clayton Kershaw and Jon Lester for the most in the major leagues.

For much of the night Royals right-hander Edinson Volquez matched Sanchez, allowing one run over the first six innings, but it all unraveled in the bottom of the seventh.

Volquez left the bases loaded with no outs for reliever Luke Hochevar. Hochevar walked Devon Travis to bring Toronto’s second run in and Darwin Barney’s single up the middle scored two more. Josh Donaldson made it 6-1 Blue Jays with a single to right field.

Brett Cecil replaced Sanchez in the ninth and Eric Hosmer popped a home run the other way to left field to add a consolation run for the Royals.

With the Indians’ recent winning-streak giving them a nice lead over Kansas City in the AL Central and the Orioles and Red Sox ahead of the Blue Jays in the AL East, these are two teams that will need to fight to get back to the postseason. They could even potentially meet in the wild-card game.

TOP PERFORMERS

Dustin Pedroia: When a lineup puts up 12 runs on 21 hits like the Boston Red Sox did in a 12-5 win over the Texas Rangers, it’s not easy identifying one offensive star for the day. We’ll go with Pedroia, who had three hits, including a home run. Xander Bogaerts and Travis Shaw also had three hits and Shaw, Mookie Betts and Brock Holt homered, but seniority reigns so Pedroia’s the pick.

Gregory Polanco: The Pittsburgh Pirates scored four runs in a 4-2 win over the St. Louis Cardinals and Polanco drove in three of them. The first two came from a homer in the sixth and he added one more with another blast in the eighth. Polanco is now hitting .297/.374/.521 with 12 home runs this season.

Derek Norris: Norris had himself one big night at the plate as the San Diego Padres beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 8-4. The Padres catcher knocked in three runs and came around the bases to add two more, with help from a two-run shot in the sixth.

MUST-SEE HIGHLIGHT

You have to see this to believe it. The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Baltimore Orioles 7-5, but it was a bald eagle that stole the show. How exactly? The trained eagle was a part of the pregame festivities for the Fourth of July, majestically flying around the stadium. Cool right? Well, then the proceedings took a very unexpected turn. When the act was over, the eagle flew right past its handler and beyond the walls of the ballpark. Perhaps it served as inspiration for Yasiel Puig and Yasmani Grandal, who both sent balls over the wall for home runs in the win.

THE REST OF THE SCOREBOARD

Brewers 1, Nationals 0: Martin Maldonado’s solo shot in the fifth inning was the only run Milwaukee needed.

Rays 4, Angels 2: Matt Moore gave up two runs over 6 2/3 innings while Logan Morrison went 2-for-4 with a home run and two RBIs.

White Sox 8, Yankees 2: Todd Frazier reached base five times – three hits and two walks – as Chicago had 13 hits in the win.

Athletics 3, Twins 1: Kendall Graveman limited Minnesota to one run one three hits over 6 2/3 innings and Coco Crisp delivered a two-run single in the seventh with the game tied 1-1.

Astros 2, Mariners 1: George Springer hit the go-ahead home run in the fifth and Lance McCullers pitched seven innings and allowing one run and striking out 10.

Cubs 10, Reds 4: Kris Bryant, Willson Contreras and Addison Russell homered for Chicago in yet another offensive outburst at Wrigley.

Phillies 8, Braves 2: A seven-run second inning paced Philadelphia and Jerad Eickoff had a strong game, striking out eight and giving up two runs in 7 2/3 innings.

Giants 3, Rockies 1: A solo home run from Buster Posey and a two-run shot by Angel Pagan was all the offense Jake Peavy, who allowed one run in 6 2/3 innings, and San Francisco needed.

Mets 8, Marlins 6: New York survived Matt Harvey’s rough start – six runs, five of them earned, on 11 hits in 3 2/3 innings – to rally to beat Miami.

Indians 5, Tigers 3: Mike Napoli’s home run with a man on in the seventh broke a tie and got Cleveland back on a winning track.

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Israel Fehr is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at israelfehr@yahoo.ca or follow him on Twitter. Follow @israelfehr