Ervin Santana isn’t going to reach the potential that scouts and front office personnel hoped he would.  On Sunday however, he showed why so many folks thought he could be a front-line starter.  The wind was howling in Kansas City as the Royals faced off against the Toronto Blue Jays.  The American League matchup put Santana against Toronto’s Brandon Morrow.  Santana turned in an excellent, workman like effort.  Working quickly, Santana scattered 7 hits, walked three, struck out four, and gave up 2 runs (1 ER).  A solo shot by Edwin Encarnacion snuck over the wall in the 6th to give the Blue Jays a 2-1 lead.  Kansas City responded in the bottom half when Billy Butler chugged home on a Lorenzo Cain groundball single.  Both offenses stayed quiet going into the 9th.  Kelvin Herrera replaced Santana and easily got through the top half of the 9th.  Jarrod ‘Slicin’ Dyson led off the ninth with a hard hit ball to center, but his heroic effort was thwarted by Colby Rasmus who ran down the line drive.  After retiring Dyson, Jays reliever Darren Oliver had to get Chris Getz and Alex Gordon out to force extra innings.  On the fourth pitch to Getz, the left handed batter ripped a double to the right center gap.  Wanting to get home before the cold front moved in, Alex Gordon took the first pitch he saw and poked it through the right side of the infield, scoring Getz and ending the game.

It was a quick game (2:37) with both starters working at a quick pace.  Besides Santana’s performance on the bump, a couple other items stuck out from this game.  First off, Kansas City catcher Salvador Perez.  Perez is a big guy and extremely athletic for his size.  He nearly picked off a couple Toronto baserunners and had some nice swings at the plate.  A full scouting report on Perez will follow this article.  Melky Cabrera was also interesting to watch.  He clearly struggled with the wind in left field and almost cost the Blue Jays a run or two when he mis-judged a line drive and had to jump backwards to snag it.  The former Royal wasn’t afraid to show his affection for his former teammates either.  After one of Melky’s two singles he gave first baseman Eric Hosmer a big bear hug.  Hosmer laughed it off but didn’t reciprocate the love.  If someone doesn’t fine Cabrera in kangaroo court for that stunt Major League Baseball is going to have to get involved.  Finally, watching Alex Gordon come into his own has been a real treat.  The former 2nd overall pick struggled for a few years before finally producing the last two seasons.  He’s off to another good start in 2013 and was the hero today, cashing in a walk-off single.  Gordon has won two gold gloves the last two seasons, but his offense is finally starting to follow suit.  He’s a definite dark horse, but it wouldn’t be terribly surprising to see him in the MVP hunt at the end of the season.