KANSAS CITY, Mo. – It was back to baseball for the Blue Jays on Friday, with none of the controversy or side show that accompanied their wild win over Texas two days earlier.

This time the Jays were simply outplayed by the Kansas City Royals.

Edinson Volquez held Toronto to two hits over six scoreless innings and the Royals took their chances for a 5-0 win in Game 1 of the American League Championship Series.

The defending AL champions chipped away at the Blue Jays en route to the victory, outhitting Toronto 8-3. The free-swinging Jays were shut out just five times during the regular season.

“Tonight was the Volquez show, he was tremendous,” manager John Gibbons said.

Catcher Salvador Perez homered for the Royals on a 12-degree Celsius night before a sellout of 39,753 in picturesque Kauffman Stadium, where fountains danced in the outfield and a sea of Kansas City blue filled the stands.

It was classic Royals baseball. Punish mistakes, spray balls around the big outfield and use team speed to accelerate the offence.

The Jays’ three hits were the fewest in franchise post-season history. They had been held to four hits twice, in Game 2 of the 1992 ALCS against the Athletics and Game 1 of the ’92 world Series against the Braves.

Since the introduction of the seven-game series in 1985, 16 of 29 (55 per cent) teams winning Game 1 have gone on to take the series.

There was more bad news for the Jays when designated hitter Edwin Encarnacion couldn’t finish the game after reinjuring his hand during an earlier at-bat. He’s listed as day-to-day with a ligament sprain in his left middle finger. X-rays were negative.

There was no bat flip or winning blast from Jose Bautista. But the Royals paid close attention to the Jays slugger, who struck out once and walked three times.

Volquez (1-1) struck out five and walked four in a 111-pitch performance highlighted by a memorable sixth inning.

He dug himself a hole in the sixth by opening with back-to-back walks to Josh Donaldson and Bautista, who both worked nine-pitch at bats. But he struck out Encarnacion, induced Chris Colabello to fly out after an eight-pitch at bat, before needing seven deliveries to strike out Tulo Tulowitzki in a 37-pitch inning.

“A great inning to cap off a great outing for him,” said Royals manager Ned Yost.

Volquez averaged 95.3 m.p.h with his fastball, his fastest in any start this season, topping out at 97. He was doused with a drinks cooler as a post-game reward.

“He was obviously really good,” said Tulowitzki. “I think his velocity was a little higher than it normally is. He was hitting his spots. He did a good job.”

Volquez said he changed his pitching strategy against Toronto’s power hitters after talking to Perez.

“I talked to Salvy about how we’re going to pitch this guy. And we changed the whole plan, the game plan …He told me “How do you feel pitching down and away?” And I said “I feel sexy tonight,’” Volquez said drawing laughs.

“That was good, I was able to command my fast down and away,” he added.

Toronto did not get past second base in the game. Relievers Kelvin Herrera, Ryan Madson and Luke Hochevar held the Jays to one hit over three innings.

How good was the Kansas City bullpen? Herrera threw nine pitches, all strikes, in his one inning.

Madson gave up a single and walk with one in the eighth but escaped further damage.

The Royals have now won eight straight wins in the League Championship Series, dating back to 1985. It’s second only to the Orioles, who won 10 from 1969-73.

Jays ace David Price looks to snap that streak Saturday when he faces Yordano Ventura in Game 2.

Toronto starter Marco Estrada (1-1) led the majors by holding opposition batters to hitting .183 after the all-star break. But Volquez was the stingy one on this night.

The Dominican right-hander limited the Jays to two walks in the first three innings and retired 11 of 13 before Colabello singled with two outs in the fourth. Ryan Goins, with his first hit of the post-season, added a two-out single in the fifth but was also stranded.

Colabello’s single, which snapped a streak of 10 2/3 hitless innings by Royals pitching, was the first ALCS hit by a Blue Jay since Paul Molitor tripled in Game 6 of the 1993 ALCS against the White Sox.

Volquez came into the game 0-4 with a 6.46 ERA in his career against the Blue Jays. And he was heavily involved in the team’s last meeting, an ill-tempered affair Aug. 2 in Toronto that saw three ejections in a 5-2 Jays’ win.

Toronto managed just a Bautista walk in the first inning but made Volquez throw 24 pitches. Things evened up in the second when Volquez needed just six pitches for a 1-2-3 inning.

Both teams got a man on second early — in the first inning for Kansas City and third for Toronto — but could not make anything of it.

But the Royals cashed in when Alex Gordon opened the bottom of the third with a double and, one out later, Alcides Escobar drove him in with another double to right. Escobar moved to third on a groundout and scored on Lorenzo Cain’s single.

Cain extended his post-season hit streak to 10 games, one off the franchise record (Amos Otis, 1978-80).

Estrada got two strikeouts in the fourth before Perez hit a 392-foot homer over the left-field wall. It was the third home run of the post-season for the star catcher.

The Royals put men on first and third with one out in the bottom of the sixth after a Donaldson fielding error put Eric Hosmer on and Kendrys Morales singled. That was it for Estrada, who was replaced by Aaron Loup. A slick Goins-Tulowitzki double play ended the threat.

Estrada gave up three runs on six hits with six strikeouts and no walks. He threw 90 pitches, 64 for strikes and complained later about being unable to control his fastball.

“It was hard for me to get the ball down today,” he said. “I elevated it a lot more than I wanted to.”

LaTroy Hawkins hit Escobar to open the eighth but, unlike the game in August, there were no fireworks. Ben Zobrist then got on via an infield hit before Hosmer’s double off the wall scored Escobar and Morales’ sacrifice fly made it 5-0.

The series matches the American League’s top teams, with the Royals (95-67) and Jays (93-69) finishing 1-2 in the standings. The difference came at the close of the regular season when Toronto went 1-4 and Kansas City won five straight.

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