TORONTO — The names shift somewhat in the Royals’ outfield, but the warning remains the same to opponents: Run at your own risk.

The Royals are again leading the majors in outfield assists. They finished last season with 51 when no other team had more than 39.

“That might surprise some people that it’s happening again,” right fielder Jeff Francoeur said, “but I think it says a lot about what we do in terms of how much we practice. So when we do get that opportunity, you try not to miss it.”

The Royals currently have 20 outfield assists — no other club has more than 17 — and their success is a nearly even split. Francoeur and left fielder Alex Gordon each have six assists, while center fielder Jarrod Dyson has five.

“It just reaffirms the job that (coach) Doug Sisson does with the outfielders,” manager Ned Yost said, “and the work that he puts forth to make them the best that they can be. It’s not an accident. He’s got them throwing every three days.”

That’s extra work, prior to the first game of a series, that occurs before batting practice.

“Our guys are talented,” Sisson said, “and they work hard. I think that’s all it comes down to. There’s nothing we do that’s unique other than we don’t throw with a cut-off man. Besides that, we throw a lot, and our guys are good.”

Why no cut-off man?

“I’ve never believed that it’s an outfielder’s job to hit a cut-off man,” Sisson said. “I don’t like that old cliché. It’s an outfielder’s job to throw the ball to a base. It’s a cut-off man’s job to get in line with the throw.

“If we’re going to throw people out, we have to learn how to throw the ball to the base — not to a cut-off man.”

Francoeur has thrown out 103 runners since the start of the 2005 season — 27 more than any other player. Gordon set a club record last by leading the majors with 20. Dyson continues to display a surprisingly strong accurate arm.

But opponents keep running. Why?

“A lot of times when we’ve thrown guys out,” Francoeur said, “it was because a team took a chance at a point where I might take a chance, too. But there were a couple where you’re thinking, `Why the heck did he go?’

“Sometimes, you take chances. In Cleveland, we’ve gone on (Shin-Soo) Choo a few times. We’ve gone on guys who we know have strong arms because you’re never assured the throw will be good. There are times when you take chances and you get burned.”

Sisson added: “I think base-running is one part of the game where there is no luck involved. It’s either a good fundamental or a bad fundamental. I just think there are certain times when you push the envelope.

“There are fundamental times in a game when you’ve got to take a chance. Maybe you’re trying to score from second with two outs, or you have a guy who got a good jump — and we just make a good play.”

Twenty times so far. And counting.

Broxton trails field

Royals closer Jonathan Broxton is a Final Vote candidate for the last spot on the American League All-Star team largely because of his ability to work himself out of tight spots at the end of games.

He needs to do that again as the online balloting process heads toward its 3 p.m. Thursday deadline.

Results released Tuesday morning by Major League Baseball showed Broxton in last place among the five AL candidates, all of whom are pitchers. Specific vote totals were not released.

Texas starter Yu Darvish ranked first, followed by Chicago starter Jake Peavy, Baltimore starter Jason Hammel, Los Angeles reliever Ernesto Frieri and Broxton.

Atlanta third baseman Chipper Jones topped the National League field, followed by St. Louis third baseman David Freese, Washington outfielder Bryce Harper, Arizona second baseman Aaron Hill and Atlanta outfielder Michael Bourn.

Jones was added to the team later in the day as a replacement for injured Dodgers outfielder Matt Kemp, who was voted by the fans to a starting spot.

Want to vote? Go to MLB.com/finalvote.

Teaford on tap

It’s no surprise that lefty Everett Teaford is now listed as the probable starter for Sunday at Detroit, which marks the Royals’ final game before the All-Star break. That slot previously was listed as “to be announced.”

Teaford gained the start by limiting Toronto to three runs and five hits over seven innings Monday in an 11-3 victory.

Yost’s decision also stacks three lefties against Detroit since Teaford will follow Jonathan Sánchez and Bruce Chen in the three-game weekend series.

Minor details

Left-hander Mike Montgomery, under consideration for a postbreak promotion, failed to hold a six-run lead in Class AAA Omaha’s 11-7 loss Tuesday to Albuquerque — a six-run lead entering the second inning.

Montgomery, 3-6, gave up eight runs and 10 hits in five innings and saw his ERA spike to 5.67.

Outfielder Bubba Starling went two for four in short-season Burlington’s 8-1 loss at Danville on Tuesday night. Starling, a high school standout at Gardner Edgerton, is batting .333 (seven for 21) through five games of his pro career.

Bullpen use

Some interesting numbers passed along by Bill Chuck, who bills himself as a baseball newstalgist (): The Royals ranked third among all 30 teams in June in innings from their bullpen and, correspondingly, 26th in innings from their starters.

The Royals’ relief corps went 5-3 with a 3.18 ERA while throwing 99 innings. Only Colorado (121 innings) and Minnesota (100 innings) worked more. That 3.18 ERA ranked 10th; Seattle was first at 1.88, and Houston was last at 7.03.

Looking back

It was 43 years ago Wednesday — July 4, 1969 — that Bob Oliver hit the first grand slam in Royals’ history. It came in the eighth inning against Seattle knuckleballer Jim Bouton in a 13-2 victory in the first game of a double-header at Municipal Stadium.

Some additional points: Those were the Seattle Pilots, who were — like the Royals — an expansion team in 1969. The Pilots left Seattle after one year to become the Milwaukee Brewers.

Bouton later became an author who chronicled the ’69 Pilots in “Ball Four,” a seminal diary that rattled the baseball world by offering an insider’s look at the major-league lifestyle.

Long-time Royals scout Art Stewart, who currently serves as a senior adviser to general manager Dayton Moore, signed Bouton to his first contract while working for the New York Yankees in 1959.

There have been 108 grand slams in Royals history since Oliver went deep against Bouton. The most recent was Monday night, when Mike Moustakas hit one in an 11-3 victory over the Blue Jays.