Oh, Lourdes! 2 games, 4 HR for red-hot Blue Jay

TORONTO -- Lourdes Gurriel Jr. has been nearly unstoppable of late.

Since his return from Triple-A Buffalo on May 24, the 25-year-old left fielder has impressed at the plate and on defense. On Friday night, Gurriel belted a pair of homers to power the Blue Jays to a 6-2 win over the Royals at Rogers Centre, his fourth career multi-homer game and second in two games.

“It’s awesome,” manager Charlie Montoyo said, after opening his postgame presser with a plea to get Gurriel to the All-Star Game. “He’s doing great. It’s fun to watch. It’s not that easy to do what he’s doing. He’s been outstanding, defensively and offensively, both. … He’s on fire right now.”

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Gurriel is hitting .352 (44-for-125) in 32 games since being recalled from Triple-A, with 14 homers, eight doubles, one triple and 26 RBIs over that span. In the win, he became the fourth player in franchise history with back-to-back multi-homer games, joining Jesse Barfield (1983), Edwin Encarnacion (2014) and Josh Donaldson (2017).

Entering Friday’s series opener, the Cuba native’s 42 hits since May 24 ranked third in the American League, and he was already leading the AL in home runs, total bases and slugging percentage in that stretch before adding to his totals against Kansas City.

“In general, it’s not just me, I feel like pretty much the team is going through a very, very good moment offensively,” Gurriel said through team interpreter Hector Lebron. “So we are very happy about it. … I’m just trying to take it day by day, keep working hard and keep doing what I’m doing to help the team win.”

Eric Sogard and Randal Grichuk also added to their home run totals in the matchup. Sogard hit a go-ahead solo shot in the seventh, his ninth of the season, before Grichuk offered some insurance in the eighth inning with a two-run jack, his 15th of the season.

Gurriel got the Blue Jays on the board with a tying two-run home run in the sixth inning off Royals starter Danny Duffy, before homering again in the eighth to extend Toronto’s lead. Gurriel’s offense backed a start from another player trying to make an impression in his return to the Majors from Buffalo, which right-hander Sean Reid-Foley did on the mound.

“He was outstanding,” Montoyo said of Reid-Foley. “He gave us more than we asked, actually. He was really good. … He did what we were hoping -- he was throwing strikes, he was around the zone, and he made them make contact, weak contact -- so the main thing was for him to throw strikes, and he did.”

Reid-Foley, ranked as Toronto’s No. 7 prospect by MLB Pipeline, was recalled on Sunday and he made one appearance out of the bullpen during the Blue Jays’ road trip through Boston and New York. Friday’s matchup offered him his first Major League start since a less-than-stellar outing on April 1.

“I just need to throw strikes, honestly,” Reid-Foley said in Buffalo last Friday, which is exactly what he did one week later with the big league club.

“It was just about keeping it simple with him,” catcher Danny Jansen said. “He’s a guy [who] as a starter was trying to nip corners and trying to two-seam it, and stuff like that, but instead [the plan was to] just attack guys up and down, use his slider, use his curveball, and just keep it simple.”

In a start with a limited pitch count due to Reid-Foley’s interrupted starting routine on the road, the Florida native lasted 5 1/3 innings, allowing two runs on five hits with one walk and three strikeouts.

“When he attacks, when he’s ahead, he’s successful,” Jansen said. “That’s with everybody, but it’s usually Foley. There have team times throughout his career, where you know he’s got good stuff, but if he’s going to get beat, it’s because he’s behind.”

With Buffalo this season, Reid-Foley had battled his command, spending much of the season trying to find consistency in the strike zone, but Bisons pitching coach Doug Mathis had seen marked improvements of late, which the young righty brought with him to Toronto.

“The struggles he’s gone through this year have actually made him better,” Mathis said earlier this week. “He’s shown some flashes where he’s dominant -- he leads the league in batting average against, and he’s [sixth] in strikeouts -- so he’s got a lot of good things going on. It’s just whether he can limit his walks. ... He has good stuff and he beats hitters when he’s in the zone.”

Added Jansen: “Our tempo was great today, but that comes with attacking the zone. He was quick to get the ball back and get right on the mound and get ready to throw it. Execution was good, he found his slider in the third inning and he started throwing it, and throwing it well. It was about keeping it around the plate and attacking. It was impressive.”