Kazuma Okamoto leads Blue Jays past Royals 4-3 to pull into tie for last AL wild card

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kazuma Okamoto had four hits and two RBIs, including a tiebreaking single in the seventh inning, as the surging Toronto Blue Jays beat the Kansas City Royals 4-3 on Saturday night to pull even with Cleveland for the final American League playoff spot.

Toronto (72-71) won for the seventh time in eight games and moved over .500 for the first time since the Blue Jays were 4-3 on April 3. The defending AL champions, who were 10 games under .500 on July 28, are tied with the Guardians for the league's third wild card.

Okamoto went 4 for 5 with a double and broke a 3-all tie in the seventh with an RBI single. In the third inning, Okamoto hit an RBI double that hit third base over a diving Josh Rojas and rolled into the left-field corner.

Nathan Lukes had three hits for Toronto, including an RBI single that made it 2-0 in the first.