Not even the Friday night KC rain could keep the Yankees bats from cooling down, as the Yankees bested the Royals 2-1 (7-3,6-5,7-8) over the weekend in KC to win their 7th straight series, and overall extend their lead atop the AL East.
The Yankees had to grind through this series, and it was amazing how they keep on winning. So with that, let’s dive right in.
GAME 1: YANKEES 7 ROYALS 3
Due to Friday nights rain out, the teams were forced to play a doubleheader on Saturday. In game 1, the Yankees crushed Jakob Junis early, as Clint Frazier doubled home a run, Gio Urshela singles one home, and after Brett Gardner’s sac fly in the 6th the Yankees had a 3-0 lead after 5.5 innings of play.
As for Yankees starter JA Happ, he was dominant, and despite giving up a big game-tying 3 run blast in the 6th to Whit Merrifield, Happ was great as he went 6 innings of 3 run ball with a season-high of 10Ks.
With the game tied at 3 in the 7th, Luke Voit stepped up and delivered a majestic 2run blast that put the Yankees ahead and gave them a 5-3 lead.
In the 8th, Thario Estrada stepped up and delivered a big 2 run double that gave the Yankees a 7-3 lead, which would ultimately be the final score, as Adam Ottavino and Luis Cessa combined for 3 innings in relief of Happ to secure the Yankees win.
MVP: Luke Voit
GAME 2: YANKEES 6 ROYALS 5
The Yankees deployed their “Opener” strategy for the second time this season, as Chad Green toed the rubber for the Yankees, and although he gave up a run in the 1st inning, he gave the Yankees what the wanted which was two innings.
The Yankees offense awarded Greens effort in the second, as they exploded for 5 runs off Royals starter Jorge Lopez.
With the bases loaded and 0 outs, Austin Romine stepped up and delivered a 2 run single that gave the Yankees a 2-1 lead.
After that, it was DJ LeMahieu who lined one into the gap for a two-run double that gave the Yankees a 4-1 lead.
The 5 run onslaught was capped off by a Camron Maybin RBI single that put the Yankees ahead 5-1.
The Yankees would tack on another run in the 3rd when Maybin knocked in another run to give the Yankees a commanding and seemingly comfortable 6-1 lead.
As for the rest of the Yankees bullpen, Chance Adams got hit hard as he gave up 3 runs, but what proved to be key in this game is the fact that he gave the Yankees length by going 4 innings.
After that, Jonathan Holder and Zack Britton built the bridge to Aroldis Chapman who just barely held off the Royals, as the Yankees held on 6-5, to sweep the doubleheader and clinch their 7th straight series.
MVP: Camron Maybin.
GAME 3: YANKEES 7 ROYALS 8 (10)
After taking the first two games of this series, the Yankees seemed a lock to sweep the Royals. Especially with 9 game winner Domingo German on the mound, and a 1-0 lead in the second after a Clint Frazier RBI double.
But things changed as for the second time this season, the Royals got to German, as they tagged him for 5HRs which accounted for 7 runs and gave the Royals a commanding 7-1 lead after 5 innings of play.
But just as they have done all season long, the Yankees didn’t go down without a fight, as once again these “New York Railriders” showed their resolve.
It started in the 6th, when Gleyber Torres interrupted an encouraging afternoon for Matt Duffy in the 6th, as he went deep for a 3runHR that cut the Royals lead in half, as they cut it to 7-4.
Then in the 9th against Royals closer Ian Kennedy, the Yankees completed yet another improbable comeback.
With runners on 1st and 2nd with 2 outs, DJ LeMahieu stepped up and delivered an RBI single that cut the Yankees deficit down to 7-5. Then after a Luke Voit walk, Aaron Hicks stepped up with the bases loaded and came up clutch, as he delivered a game-tying 2 run single that tied the game at 7 and just like that the Yankees had completed another comeback.
But there was still one more thing, the Yankees had to accomplish, winning the game. That goal looked a lot likelier when Nestor Cortez JR got out of a bases 2 loaded 2 out jam, to complete a fabulous 4 scoreless innings of work from him in relief.
In the bottom of the 10th looking to keep the game tied, Jonathan Holder came on in relief and walked the speedy Billy Hamilton, who stole second base, and then on a Merrifield Infield single that took an unexpected bounce over Gio Urshela’s head, Hamilton raced around third and scored giving the Royals an 8-7 extra inning walked off victory.
MVP Matt Duffy. His start kept the Yankees offense off balance for most of the afternoon.
Series MVP: Camron Maybin
PIVOTAL MOMENT OF THE SERIES:
Even though he didn’t get the series MVP. Luke Voit was still a big reason why the Yankees won this series as in game 1, his enormous 2 run blast gave the Yankees a 5-3 lead, and stopped the Royals momentum cold after they tied it at 3 in game 1.
Voits HR lifted the Yankees, as they defeated the Royals 7-3 and set the tone for the series win.
STATS TO KNOW:
Yankees streak
7 out of 8 (7 game win streak was snapped in Sunday’s loss)
11 wins in last 13
28-9 in last 37 games.
SCOREBOARD WATCH:
The Rays took 3 of 4 from the Cleveland Indians, to keep their deficit at 2 games behind the Yankees in the AL East.
The Red Sox lost 2 of 3 to the Astros and trial the Yankees by 6.5 games for first in the East.
THOUGHTS:
I’ll take another series win! We continue to grind out victory’s and we continued to show resolve, as we did it in all three games!
The series finale was a tough loss, but I was proud of the way we fought back like that and refused to quit. I will take a 6-1 road trip, as we extended our division lead over the weekend, and now we head home revved up for a 3 game showdown against the San Diego Padres. Let’s go Yankees!
FAN OPINIONS:
Eli Zirdock: Aaron Boone shouldn’t have put Holder in the 10th and should’ve gone to Adam Ottavino. We could’ve won the game of Boone went to one of our reliable relievers in Ottavino.
Ikey Esses:
I think this weekend went very good!!! I think Happ gained some confidence back, and our opener went well! I think that the game today (Sunday), was to teach them that we can catch up from a deficit and that any mistake can end the game, like walking the guy, letting him steal, and misreading a bounce. Hopefully, we can come back strong, beat the Padres and show Machado how good we are!!!
UP NEXT:
The Yankees (34-18) ,return home on Monday (5/27), to begin a 3 game showdown with Manny Machado and the San Diego Padres (28-25). The Padres will send Matt Straham to the mound to face against the Yankees bullpen, as they have not yet announced an “Opener”.
Game time is 1:05 PM on Memorial Day from the Bronx.
Comments