Gerrit Cole was dominant again, and the Yankees offense arrived in the Royals’ bullpen as they beat Kansas City, 5-2, on Saturday afternoon in the Bronx.
Take away food
– Cole was on the mound and pitching to a new backstop for the first time this season. With Jose Trevino out for the season, Ben Rortvedt was in the starting lineup to catch the Yankees ace. It didn’t seem to matter to Cole who got the first six batters he faced with three strikeouts. However, Nick Prato would take a 2-2 pitch from Cole deep at short porch to start the third inning.
Cole was undeterred even in allowing the runners, no stranger than the first bunt of Bobby Witt Jr.. in the fourth. The bunt came down the left field line and appeared to foul, but when DJ LeMahieu hit foul, the referee called it fair. Witt, trying to catch the sleeping Yankees, tried to advance to second but Cole kicked him out.
The Yankees ace would struggle in the fifth. After allowing the first two batters after a single and a walk, Cole retired the next two batters. He was one batter away from going out the inning, but Maikel GarciaThe singles tied the match at 2-2. After being super efficient in the first three innings, Cole’s pitch count soared to 84 after five.
Cole would set up, bringing out the next four batters before Aaron Boon fired him one out in the seventh. Cole pitched 6.1 innings (99 pitches), allowing two runs on five hits and a walk. He also finished with 10 strikeouts.
Cole has now allowed two or fewer runs in 16 of his last 21 starts this season and now leads the majors.
–Anthony RizoThe struggles continued. In the first with men on first and second and no one coming out, the first baseman went into a double play on the first pitch. Giancarlo Stanton picked up his teammate with a two-out single down the middle to score Billy McKinney who walked to lead the game.
Rizzo would bat in his second at bat, but in his third AB he came out of the dugout without a batting glove. The change apparently worked as he picked out massive applause from the Yankee Stadium crowd. On his last at bat, Rizzo hit a grounder in the middle, but a fine diving play from Witt Jr. stole a single and RBI from the first baseman. He finished 1 for 4.
–Antoine Volpe doubled to start the third, his first extra hit since July 9 against the Cubs when he hit a home run. He would steal third and score on a sack fly from Torres to put the Yanks up 2-1 at the time.
With the score tied in sixth, the Yankees had men in first and third with one out. Stanton would hit and Francy Cordero flew to the center to end the threat.
-McKinney, the hero of Friday’s game, was tasked with leading today’s game and ended up on base twice and scored a run. He went 1 for 2 with two walks and a stolen base. McKinney started the game at the center for the sick Harrison Bader. With Boone expecting Bader to return to the lineup on Sunday, the plus defenseman came on to play center in the eighth inning, moving McKinney to the left and Oswaldo Cabrera to the right. Bader got an at-bat in the eighth, collecting a single and stealing a base.
-Starter Royals Brady Singer came into Saturday’s game with a 5.70 ERA and was pretty dominant against this Yankees formation. He went six innings, allowing two runs on five hits and one walk. He struck out nine batters and five consecutive batters in one streak.
However, the Yanks would take over the Royals’ bullpen. LeMahieu started the seventh with a solo shot to give the Yanks a 3-2 lead. It’s LeMahieu’s eighth home run of the season and his first since June 13 against the Mets. Stanton would put the game away with a two-out, two-run shot over the left field wall to give the Yanks a 5-2 lead.
-Yankees bullpen Wandy Peralta, Tommy Kahnle And Clay Holmes combined to get the last eight outs of the game. Holmes was talking about the tying run after giving up a single with two outs and a walk, but he was ruled out Drew the waters to pick up his 13th save after a scoreless ninth inning, and has now not allowed a run in 27 of his 30 appearances this season.
Strong points
And after
The Yankees conclude their three-game series with the Royals on Sunday afternoon. The first pitch is scheduled for 1:35 p.m.
Luis Severino (1-4, 6.66 ERA) should take the mound for the Yanks. The Royals will send Jordan Lyles (1-11, 6.05 MPM).