Blue Jays look to ride home momentum in Game 4

What a difference a ballpark (and 50,000 delirious fans) can make.

In danger of falling perilously behind in the American League Championship Series after a pair of disheartening losses in Kansas City, the Toronto Blue Jays brought their vaunted bats back to life in an 11-8 win on Monday night at Rogers Centre.

Toronto now looks to keep the fireworks coming, and square the series, in front of what's sure to be another raucous home crowd on Tuesday afternoon (4 p.m. ET).

The Blue Jays' 11 runs in Game 3 nearly quadrupled their combined production from the first two games at Kaufmann Stadium, the more spacious outdoor park considered less hospitable to Toronto's slugging lineup, which managed only three runs there.

Scuffling shortstop Troy Tulowitzki silenced his critics in Game 3 with a three-run homer and Josh Donaldson launched a two-run blast during a six-run third inning as the Blue Jays raced to a 9-2 lead and knocked K.C. ace Johnny Cueto from the mound after recording only six outs.

On Tuesday, Royals pitcher Edinson Volquez said Cueto told him that he believes the Blue Jays were stealing signals off Kansas City catcher Salvador Perez via a plant in the centre-field stands.

Tulowitzki, who was later ejected for arguing with umpire John Hirschbeck, has reached base only eight times in 35 trips to the plate this post-season, but two of those are three-run homers.

Toronto starter Marcus Stroman didn't have his best stuff, yielding 11 hits and four runs over six innings, and Kansas City made the game interesting with four runs in the ninth — including a two-run, 455-foot shot by Kendrys Morales off Jays closer Roberto Osuna, who retired the next two batters to end it.

"We desperately needed that breakout," Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said. "You look at how the game finished up, those runs really came in handy. It wasn't an easy game, even though we had a big lead."

Gibbons said Tuesday that Osuna has a a cracked nail on one of the fingers on his throwing hand but is OK to pitch, and that fellow reliever Aaron Sanchez is in the same boat with a blister on his finger.

Toronto's fearsome lineup, which scored 127 more runs than any other team in baseball during the regular season, now turns its wrath to Chris Young. The veteran (and very tall) Kansas City righty, who shuffled between the starting rotation and the bullpen this season, will make only the second post-season start of his career, and the first since 2006.

Young has pitched creditably in 2015, yielding only 94 hits in 127-1/3 innings while striking out 90 and walking 45.

He's part of a Game 4 starters' matchup that has a combined age of 76.

Pitching matchup

Royals RH Chris Young (0-0, 2.25 ERA) vs. Blue Jays RH R.A. Dickey (0-0, 1.93)

The 36-year-old Young was tabbed to start over Kris Medlen because manager Ned Yost was impressed with his relief outing against Houston in the AL Division Series as he struck out seven while allowing one run and three hits in four innings. The 6-foot-10 Young has allowed just two runs and seven hits over his last 15-1/3 frames and marvels that he is even in position to start a post-season game after a lengthy pattern of injuries.

"To have this opportunity, I just can't thank the organization enough for believing in me," Young said, "whether it was in the beginning of the season or here now in the postseason."

The 40-year-old Dickey never had pitched in the post-season until giving up one run and five hits in 4-2/3 innings against Texas in the ALDS. He continues to baffle hitters with his trademark knuckleball, which also tests the abilities of catcher Russell Martin.

"Have you ever tried to catch a butterfly as it's floating around in the air?" Martin asked reporters. "I wish I could put a camera on my mask or something for people to see exactly what the ball's doing. It's pretty impressive."

Walk-offs

1. Donaldson, who has belted three homers in the post-season, is just one-for-16 against Young.

2. Morales went three-for-four with a two-run shot in Game 3 and has four homers in eight games this post-season.

3. Royals centre-fielder Lorenzo Cain went one-for-four in Game 3 to extend his post-season hitting streak to 12 games, breaking the franchise mark set by Amos Otis (1978-80).