The Yankees used three homers to edge past the Royals in their 5-4 win Friday night at Stadium.
Take away food
– From Judge AaronAfter the (37 games) injury, the Yankees entered Friday’s game 15-22 with a .218 batting and scoring 3.8 ppg and that trend continued into the start of the game. The Yankees got the first two men in the first after Oswald Peraza was hit by a throw and Anthony Rizo reached after the choice and error of a defensive player. Gleyber Torres would turn into a double game and Giancarlo Stanton would just miss a home run, going out on the warning trail in left field.
The Yankees couldn’t string together many hits, but all of their runs came via the long ball. Francy Cordero threw a solo shot in the second inning to give them a 1-0 lead. Billy McKinneystarting in the central field for the sick Harrison Bader, hit a three-point moonshot over the field wall at center right to give the team a 4-3 lead. Torres had fun with his own solo shot in the fifth to put the Yanks up 5-3.
The Yankees had five total hits and three of them were of the home run variety.
– Clark Schmidt, who has been a stabilizing force in the Yankees’ rotation for the past few weeks, continued to roll against the light-hitting Royals. He went through the first three innings on under 30 pitches but struggled in the fourth. After allowing a double and hitting a batter two out and ahead in the 0-2 count, Schmidt allowed a three-run shot to Michel Massy. Schmidt’s sweeper had too many plates and Massey made him pay.
Schmidt would come out of men’s trouble on second and third in the fifth thanks to a poor base run by the Royals. The right-hander would find himself in trouble again in the sixth before Aaron Boon fired him with two outs and men on the corners. Wandy Peralta would come to take out the final of the sixth, ending Schmidt’s evening.
Schmidt went just 5.2 innings (64 pitches/45 strikes) allowing three runs on five hits, one walk and striking out just two batters. The young right-hander just couldn’t get that pesky Royals team to bite on grounds outside the area. After getting the first nine batters in order to start the game, Schmidt allowed seven of the next 15 batters to reach.
– With Jose Trevino out for the year with an injured wrist, Kyle Higashioka will now take on the bulk of the starting capture tasks from tonight. He finished the game 0-for-3 with one strikeout.
Peraza hit once more, but this time from second base. He went 0-for-3 with one strikeout, but had an extra base hit stripped by the Royals’ defense in the seventh. Since his call, Peraza is 2-for-13 with five walks and eight strikeouts.
Rizzo continued his nearly two-month slump going 0-4 with one strikeout. A potential bloop shot was stolen by Bobby Witt Jr. in the fifth inning, but is now 3 for 30 in its last seven games.
DJ LeMahieu continues to look more comfortable on the plate. He went 1 for 3 with a walk and a strikeout. He now has a hit in nine of his last 10 games.
– With Schmidt out early, Boone relied on his bullpen to get through this game. With Gerrit Cole on the bump Saturday, and the day off Thursday, the pen was rested. Peralta allowed a hit in 0.2 innings while Michael King gave up his own hit in 0.2 innings of work. Tommy Kahnle started the eighth but gave up a solo shot to Massey to cut the Yankees lead to 5-4 before going up the inning.
– Holmes clay came in the ninth and gave up a first single. After popping out, Drew Waters stole second place on a tight game. A line to Peraza nearly overtook Waters for second. Witt Jr. then hit a grounder on the right side of Anthony Volpe, but the rookie grabbed the grounder and threw it to LeMahieu at third for the tag. Waters was originally called a safe at third, but a review by the umpire overturned the call as the Yankees held on for the 5-4 victory.
Strong points
And after
The Yankees continue their three-game series with the Royals on Saturday afternoon. The first pitch is scheduled for 7:07 p.m.
Gerrit Cole (9-2, 2.78 ERA) should take the mound for the Yanks. The Royals will send Brady Singer (6-8, 5.70 ERA) to oppose the Yankees ace.