Yankees fans share favorite memories of John Sterling
Fans are asked to share the moment they heard that Sterling had died, their favorite memory of him and their best imitation, Monday, May 4, 2026.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – With the Yankees trailing by a run in the ninth, Anthony Volpe – making his first start since Jose Caballero’s activation – delivered a clutch two-run single and lifted his team toward a 4-3 Memorial Day victory over the Kansas City Royals.
Volpe lined a one-out single to left off closer Lucas Erceg that plated the tying and go-ahead runs at Kauffman Stadium, and David Bednar allowed a two-out walk before nailing down his 12th save.
Including the 2024 postseason, Monday afternoon’s win was the Yankees’ 12th straight against the Royals.
Anthony Volpe comes through in ninth
After a one-out Paul Goldschmidt infield hit and a double by Jazz Chisholm Jr. (who hurt his lower right leg but stayed in the game), Anthony Volpe singles over a drawn-in infield to give the Yanks a 4-3 lead in the ninth.
Once again, Lucas Erceg is ineffective and here comes David Bednar to try and close it out for the Yanks vs. the bottom of KC’s order, with all of their bench players used.
Max Schuemann pinch-ran for Goldschmidt, and now Cody Bellinger will come in from left field to man first base.
Going to the ninth
Bird and Tim Hill (K, groundout) keep the Royals from scoring with a runner at first, none out in the eighth, but KC takes a 3-2 lead to the ninth, with Lucas Erceg on.
Yesterday, Erceg threw 32 pitches and gave up three runs in the ninth, in KC’s 8-6 win over Seattle.
Bobby Witt Jr. unties it
Witt’s leadoff homer in the eighth, off Jake Bird, makes it 2-1, Royals.
It’s his eighth of the year, drilled to left on a 1-1 curveball. Meanwhile, the Yankees are hitless since J.C. Escarra’s fourth-inning single.
Michael Wacha retried the last 10 batters he faced, and lefty reliever Daniel Lynch made it 13 straight Yankee ABs without a hit in the eighth, vs. the top of the order.
Avoiding trouble
Pinch-hitter Nick Loftin got a gift, one-out double in the seventh as a catchable fly ball drops in shallow center, where Trent Grisham pulled up.
The sun is also an issue for outfielders here, Judge was cutting in on the angle and racing in fast, but Grisham would’ve had a play – coming straight in – had he not pulled up.
Anyway, Loftin winds up stranded at third base by Jake Bird, who retires Maikel Garcia on a grounder with Bobby Witt Jr. on deck. Still 2-2 moving into the eighth with lefty reliever Daniel Lynch now in for Wacha.
Brent Headrick is in
Will Warren is done after six pretty good innings in a 2-2 game, as we move to the Royals’ seventh. Warren threw 85 pitches. Michael Wacha is at 93 after seven.
Salvy ties it 2-2
Crushing a one-out, first-pitch sinker by Will Warren, Salvador Perez ties it 2-2 here in the sixth. Brent Headrick has begun warming up.
It’s Perez’s 136th home run at Kauffman Stadium, matching George Brett (when it was Royals Stadium) for the most in the ballpark’s history.
By 2030, they expect to have a new downtown ballpark. This one has held up just fine; it’s always a great place to see a game. I’m sure there will be fountains incorporated in the new park.
Anyway, Perez’s homer flies 422 feet. And the Yanks are already regretting a few blown opportunities vs. Wacha.
Will Warren through five
It’s still 2-1, Yanks, as we move to the sixth inning.
Since walking the bases loaded in the second, Will Warren has retired 11 of the last 13 Royals he’s faced, with one (Vinnie Pasquantino double) reaching scoring position.
After a Maikel Garcia two-out single, Warren strikes out Bobby Witt Jr. on three pitches, swinging through a 94-mph fastball to end the fifth.
Yanks fail to cash in again
This time, with runners at the corners, Jose Caballero taps into a DP to end the visiting fourth. It’s still 2-1, Yanks.
Before he grounded into a DP, Caballero had another exchange with plate ump Clint Vondrak, who had called a batter pitch clock violation against Caballero in his previous AB (before the first pitch).
Caballero concluded that AB with an RBI hit. This time, he short-circuits a rally. Either way, it’s another Caballero plate appearance where his engagement with the pitcher and manipulation of the pitch clock come into play.
KC gets one, Yanks waste a chance
Will Warren ran into command problems in the second, walking the bases loaded with one out, but KC settled for one run on a Michael Massey sac fly, so good rebound there.
But after an Aaron Judge leadoff double in the third, the Yanks don’t score. With Judge at third and one out and the infield in, Bellinger fouled out on a first-pitch slider before Goldschmidt struck out.
It’s 2-1, Yanks.
Michael Wacha threw only seven pitches in that inning (five after the Judge double) as the Yanks keep an aggressive approach.
Also, Judge is smoking the ball again.
He’d shown hard-hit signs of coming out of his May fog on Friday night, then hit the walk-off homer yesterday, and now has a 100-mph lineout and a 111-mph double to right.
Volpe & Caballero
It’s a two-run second inning, set up by Anthony Volpe’s two-out walk. Consecutive singles by J.C. Escarra and No. 9 hitter Jose Caballero (RBI) make it 2-0.
Ryan McMahon is on the bench. Royals’ righty Michael Wacha has reverse splits; he’s tougher on lefty batters this year (.532 OPS) than righty batters (.772 OPS), contributing to Caballero and Volpe together in today’s lineup.
Boone also mentioned that Caballero could possibly get an outfield start as early as this series at KC.
Yanks swinging early
Four Yankees have batted, three have swung at Michael Wacha’s first pitch, and Cody Bellinger opens the second inning with a homer on a 92-mph first-pitch fastball.
It’s 1-0, Yanks, who are taking an aggressive approach here early vs. Wacha.
The only Yankee who didn’t offer at a first pitch by Wacha was Ben Rice, after Trent Grisham (strikeout) and Aaron Judge (lineout to right) were retired on a combined four pitches.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.northjersey.com ’
