Today in the Bronx at Yankees Stadium, the New York Yankees met up with the Kansas City Royals for the finale of a 3 game series between the two old rivals. The Royals took game one, and the Yankees had a walk-off win against the Royals last night at the bottom of the ninth inning. Today Jameson Taillon was on the mound for the Yankees and Brad Keller for the Royals. It was a beautiful day for a ballgame with bright sunny skies and a game-time temperature in the high 70’s. Ex-manager Joe Torre was in the stands to watch the game.
In the first inning with Taillon on the mound, leadoff hitter Whit Merrifield singled to left field over the head of Tyler Wade, who was playing at short today. Merrifield stole second. Carlos Santana ground out. Salvatore Perez struck out, and Ryan O’Hearn ground to end the half.
At the bottom, LeMahieu ground back to pitcher Keller. Aaron Judge started the day with his 16th homer of the season into the short porch at Yankee Stadium. Gary Sanchez, who has worked himself up to the third spot in the lineup, singled. Giancarlo Stanton got a base hit for two on and one out. Luke Voit, who had the walk-off win last night, flew out to center. Rougie Odor got a base hit to right, and Sanchez scored with Stanton moving to second. Clint Frazier ground into a force to end the inning, but the Yankees got the early lead. New York Yankees 2 Kansas City Royals 0.
The top of the second inning was led off by Hanser Alberto, who doubled. Jarrod Dyson was out on a sac bunt, moving Alberto moved to third. Michael Taylor struck out swinging. Lopez flew out to Gardner to end the half. Brett Gardner led off the bottom by flying out to centerfield. Tyler Wade looking for his first home run of the season, worked a walk-off of Keller. Wade stole second. LeMahieu walked. Judge hit an RBI single, scoring Wade from second. Wade’s speed pays off big for the Yankees time after time. Sanchez with men on the corner and one out ground out. The Yankees ended the inning, gaining another run. Yankees 3 Royals 0.
The third inning was a quick inning for both pitchers, but Luke Voit got another home run in the bottom of the third, a solo one to the left to put the Yankees up another run. In the top of the fourth, with Taillon pitching well, Perez stuck out. O’Hearn flew out. Taylor flew out to end the half. At the bottom, with the Yankees up by four, Wade hit a push bunt a bit too hard and was out at first. LeMahieu ground out to short. Judge walked. Sanchez struck out swinging. New York Yankees 4 Royals 0.
Leading off the fifth was Lopez against Taillon; he singled up the middle. Rivero got an RBI double down the left-field line driving in Lopez (his first major league hit), putting the Royals on the board. Merrifield walked. Santana flew out to Frazier. Perez hit into a double play to end the half. At the bottom, Stanton singled to left. Voit struck out. Odor flew to the left-center wall moving Stanton to third. Frazier walked, loading the base for Brett Gardner with one out. Gardner flew out to left in foul territory. Wade, with two outs and the bases loaded, went down looking. Yankees 4 Royals 1.
To start the sixth inning, O’Hearn ground out. Alberto flew out, and Dyson flew out to Gardner for the quick inning for Taillon. At the bottom, Anthony Swarzak took over the pitching for the Royals. LeMahieu lined into center for a single. Judge doubled to the right-center wall splitting the outfields, LeMahieu went to third. Sanchez got a long three-run homer into the bullpen in left field. Stanton ground out third. Voit hit a fly ball to the warning track in center for the second out. Odor advanced on a hit by pitch. Frazier struck out. New York Yankees 7 Royals 1.
The seventh inning was led off by Taylor, who called out on strikes. Lopez walked on the 96th pitch, and that was the day for Taillon, one of his best outings. The Yankees turned to Nestor Cortes Jr., who faced Rivero, who ground out. Merrifield ended the inning swinging out. At the bottom, Gardner foul-tipped for an out. Wade popped out to third. LeMahieu popped back to Davis, the reliever. Yankees 7 Royals 1.
Dozier, at the top of the eighth against Cortes Jr., walked. Perez struck out. O’Hearn struck out. Alberto hit one just short of Frazier in left, moving up Dozier to second. Dyson foul-tipped into Sanchez’s glove to strand two Royals. At the bottom, it was Ervin Santana facing Aaron Judge, who walked. Judge took second on a wild pitch. Sanchez went down on strikes. Judge moved to third on another wild pitch. Stanton singled to left for his third hit of the day, driving in Judge. Voit went down on strikes for the second out of the inning. Odor flew out to left. New York Yankees 8 Royals 1.
Nestor Cortes Jr., still on the mound for the top of the ninth, Taylor flew out to Judge. Soler struck out. Gutierrez in for Merrifield flew out to end the game. The final score was the New York Yankees 8 and the Kansas City Royals 1. The winning pitcher was Jameson Taillon, and the loser was Brad Keller. The Yankees took the series 2 games to 1.