Anthony Volpe saves Yankees from brutal loss in comeback win over Royals

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Anthony Volpe is playing to earn his keep.

On Monday, that involved keeping the Yankees from another tough loss.

For the first time since José Caballero came off the injured list, Volpe started at shortstop and ended up saving the day, delivering a two-run single in the top of the ninth to lift the Yankees to a 4-3 win over the Royals in a Memorial Day matinee at Kauffman Stadium.

After Bobby Witt Jr. had put the Royals ahead with a solo shot off Jake Bird in the bottom of the eighth, the Yankees (32-22) staged a one-out rally capped by Volpe, who has gone from October shoulder surgery to losing his job to being optioned to Triple-A to coming back up and now making a consistent impact through his first nine games.

“It just felt great to contribute and help the team win — that’s all I’ve ever wanted to do,” Volpe said. “That was all I wanted to do when I was working and grinding to come back.

“You do it for this, for the guys. Everyone in this clubhouse does absolutely everything they can to come through and help the team win. I just feel like I’m one of the guys and everyone pushes me the same way I hope I push everyone else to do the exact same thing.”

After Volpe sat out the previous two games in favor of Caballero, they were both in Monday’s lineup against Royals righty Michael Wacha, who has reverse splits, with Caballero getting his first start at third base.

Sure enough, both played a key role in the win, with Caballero driving in Volpe on a single that made it a 2-0 game in the second inning and later ending the game with a strong play on a slow chopper to third base.

“I trust in both of those guys and who they are and their makeup and their toughness, that it doesn’t have to be one way or another in one game,” manager Aaron Boone said. “They were both in the middle of helping us win today.”

Fourteen straight Yankees had been retired before Paul Goldschmidt started the game-winning rally in the ninth with a broken-bat infield single off Royals closer Lucas Erceg. Jazz Chisholm Jr. came up next and roped a hustle double past the dive of first baseman Salvador Perez.

That set the stage for Volpe, and, with the infield in, he lofted a single over the head of Bobby Witt Jr. at shortstop to put the Yankees ahead.

David Bednar then closed it out in the bottom of the ninth, working around a two-out walk, as the Yankees took the series opener from the Royals (22-32).

“Honestly, it was time to win the game,” said Chisholm, who tweaked his right ankle rounding first but said he was OK. “End of the game, we never quit, we never give in. We needed to win that game, so we just came together and did it.”

Bird was called on to relieve Brent Headrick with two outs and a runner on third in the bottom of the seventh inning and got out of that jam. But Boone stuck with Bird to face the heart of the Royals lineup in the bottom of the eighth and he hung a curveball to Witt, who clobbered it 432 feet to break a 2-2 tie.

Boone said Fernando Cruz was available “in a role,” but wanted either Bird or Camilo Doval in that spot because of the matchups.

The bullpen had no margin for error, after another solid start from Will Warren (six innings, two runs), because the offense had trouble breaking out against Wacha. Cody Bellinger drilled a leadoff home run in the second inning before Caballero drove in Volpe for the two-run lead, but the Yankees stranded a runner at third base in each of the next two innings before getting shut down for a stretch.

That changed in the ninth, though, with Volpe playing hero and offering up his latest forget-me-not.

“He’s a dawg. He’s a gamer. He’s a tough kid,” Boone said. “Certainly [losing his job] isn’t the way he would draw it up or maybe even doesn’t feel that’s fair — whatever it may be — but the one thing he does is continue to work his tail off and play his tail off. He’s come up here and in his first several games back, he’s played really well.”