"OK, it was dramatic. It didn't need to be. It probably shouldn't have been. But, hey, the Royals sure needed it.

Alex Gordon's two-out homer in the 10th inning Wednesday afternoon rescued the Royals in a 4-3 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays at the Rogers Centre.

It did, to be precise, after Joakim Soria set down the Jays in their half of the 10th for his fourth save.

And if the Royals needed something good collectively, perhaps nobody needed something good personally more than Gordon, whose time in the big leagues might hinge on his production while Chris Getz recovers from a strained right oblique.

Gordon had struck out twice in three at-bats prior to his homer. In the seventh inning, before grounding out weakly to second, he waved helplessly at a Shaun Marcum changeup on a hit-and-run play that resulted in Jason Kendall being thrown out at second.

Throw in a two-base error wild throw on a routine grounder to third base in the fourth inning and, well, let Gordon tell you …

"It was absolutely a horrible game on my part," he said, "until the 10th inning. That swinging and missing. I had no bounce at the plate. Making an error. So it felt good to put one into the seats in extra innings."

Gordon's drive to deep center against Scott Downs carried beyond a retreating Vernon Wells in center field."