The Yankees hadn’t lost to the Royals in 11 consecutive games, dating back to Game 2 of the 2024 ALDS. That almost changed this Memorial Day afternoon.
After grabbing a pair of early runs, the Yankee offense appeared to rest on their laurels, watching passively as the Royals battled back to take a 3-2 lead in the home half of the eighth. But the Bombers mustered the fight they needed. Anthony Volpe’s go-ahead two-run single with two outs to go turned what would have been another enervating defeat into a much-needed, well-deserved 4-3 victory at Kauffman Stadium. Will Warren registered a quality start on the mound to keep the game winnable, and Volpe’s heroics stood up. The Yankees now have a winning streak.
The first inning flew by in an eyeblink, setting the stage for a far more eventful second inning, for better and worse. The better part came first, on a Belli Bomb to lead off the frame. Cody Bellinger’s seventh home run of the season traveled 403 feet out to right and gave New York the early lead against Michael Wacha.
However, that lead only stood up in the short term thanks to the contributions of the bottom of the order. With two outs, Volpe worked a walk and J.C. Escarra slashed an opposite-field single to put runners on the corners for José Caballero. Despite getting an automatic strike called on him before he even reached the plate because he lost track of his batting helmet, Caballero lined a base hit to the right-center gap to plate Volpe and make it 2-0.
The worst part for Warren came when he walked the bases loaded to give the light-hitting Royals lineup a chance to claw back. They got halfway, thanks to a Michael Massey sac fly, but the 26-year-old righty was able to hold it to the lone run. He found his command again in the third, working around a Vinnie Pasquantino double with two outs to post a scoreless frame.
From that point forward, Warren really started to flummox Kansas City hitters, starting a string of six-straight harmless fly outs before a two-out single from Maikel Garcia gave a big opportunity to franchise face Bobby Witt Jr. Undaunted, Warren went right after the star shortstop and struck him out on three pitches to end the fifth inning.
Unfortunately, the Royals would finally tie the score in the sixth. Warren’s trend of getting outs through the air continued, but opposing captain Salvador Perez finally timed him up in his third at-bat, scorching a two-seamer deep out to left for an equalizing homer.
The Yankees wasted a double of their own from Aaron Judge in the top of the third, then a double play quashed a first-and-third threat in the fourth. Those missed opportunities allowed Wacha, always effective against New York, to settle into the game. The veteran retired nine Yankees in a row for a perfect third time through the order. He completed seven full innings for the fifth time in eleven starts. That’s not what New York was looking for after making him work hard earlier in the afternoon.
Then came the home eighth. Daniel Lynch IV dispatched the top of the Yankee order very quickly to bring up the Royals’ team MVP. Witt greeted Jake Bird with a big fly down the left field line toward the Royals’ Hall of Fame building that he might one day inhabit, putting Kansas City ahead for the first time and causing a wave of exasperated sighs across the Tri-State area.
It’s been a while since the last inspiring Yankees comeback. Could we get one this Memorial Day? After a first-pitch out from Bellinger, a rally began to take shape.
It started with a broken-bat infield single from Paul Goldschmidt; the ball deadened so much on impact with the ground that not even Witt could make a play on it. Then came Jazz Chisholm Jr., and he slapped a groundball past the second-base hole for a hit. He raced to second and reached safely with a double, perhaps thanks to an ill-advised cutoff from Nick Loftin. Jazz then got a visit from the trainer before staying in the game, as Volpe took a consequential plate appearance.
The Fox delivered. Volpe fell behind in the count 1-2, but closer Lucas Erceg’s slider caught too much of the plate. No. 11 made him pay with a two-run single to catapult the Yankees back ahead, 4-3. While Volpe was caught in a rundown after the runs scored, the damage had been done. It was up to David Bednar to make the result stand up.
Bednar faced the bottom of the Royals’ lineup, and wasted little time getting the first two outs before entering a drawn-out battle with ninth-place hitter Lane Thomas, who had entered off the bench. He ultimately walked Thomas to bring up the top of Kansas City’s order, but it was water under the bridge; Garcia bounced out to third to end the game, and the Yankees won 4-3.
Thanks to a truly wild walk-off victory for the Orioles over the Rays in Baltimore, the Yankees gained another game on Tampa Bay in the standings. Their AL East lead is down to 3.5 games. Positive momentum for multiple days in a row—when’s the last time that happened?
Cam Schlittler will get the ball for his 12th start of the season tomorrow evening as the Yankees look to continue their recent dominance at The K. He’ll most likely face an opener for the Royals, the identity of which is yet to be announced by the team. First pitch is scheduled for 7:40 pm EST, which coverage thankfully returning to YES.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.pinstripealley.com ’
