Overview

The Royals returned to Kauffman Stadium this weekend for a series against the New York Yankees. The Yankees came into the series leading the AL East with a record of 13-6, while the Royals, coming off of a series win against the White Sox, had a season record of 7-10.

The Royals got swept in the series 3-0. This is the second time this season the Royals have been swept, and it was certainly detrimental to their record. However, if they were going to be swept, it would be better at the hand of a very good Yankees team starting their best pitchers than any other team.  The Royals dropped their record to 7-13, and the Yankees rose/fell to 16-6. 

Game 1 - Yankees Mash 4 Homers in Rain-Shortened 12-2 Win

Starters: Nestor Cortes (NYY) vs. Kris Bubic (KC)

The Yankees wasted no time breaking into the scoring column in this matchup. DJ LeMahieu led off and doubled, and Anthony Rizzo and Giancarlo Stanton hit back-to-back homers to take a quick 3-0 lead. The Royals got a bit back in the bottom of the 1st on a pair of doubles by Whit Merrifield and Salvador Perez. They scored a second run in the 2nd inning on singles from Edward Olivares and Michael A. Taylor. Bobby Witt, Jr. was caught stealing in the inning on a very controversial play where it seemed he was pulled off the bag, and Mike Matheny was ejected for arguing the call. The game remained 3-2 until the 7th inning, when Isiah Kiner-Falefa singled, Kyle Higashioka walked, LeMahieu hit an RBI single, and Aaron Judge hit a 3-run shot. The Yankees continued to pile it on in the 8th. Stanton singled, Gleyber Torres homered, Aaron Hicks was hit by a pitch, Kiner-Falefa singled, and Higashioka hit a 3-run double. The game was called after 8 innings due to rain. 

Nestor Cortes had a strong but lucky outing as he pitched 5.0 innings and gave up 8 hits, but only one earned run, and recorded the win. In probably his best outing yet, Kris Bubic went a mediocre 5.0 innings and gave up 3 runs on 4 hits to get the loss. Dylan Coleman and Jake Brentz each gave up 4 runs. 

Final: Yankees 12-2 Royals

Most Notable Player: Nestor Cortes (5.0 IP, 8 H, 1 ER, 3 K)

Game 2 - Royals Fail to Capitalize Throughout 3-0 Loss

Starters: Gerrit Cole (NYY) vs. Carlos Hernandez (KC)

The Yankees scratched the first run across in the 2nd when Isiah Kiner-Falefa grounded into a double play with the bases loaded with Gleyber Torres scoring on the play. They got another in the 3rd after Torres hit a sac fly with the bases loaded, and made it 3 straight innings in the 4th when Aaron Hicks walked and made his way to 3rd, where Kiner-Falefa hit him home with a sac fly. After the 4th inning, there was very little offense to speak of from either team. From the 3rd inning to the 8th, the Royals got a hit in every inning, but didn’t generate any big scoring opportunities. They left 11 runners on base. 

Gerrit Cole had a great performance, logging 6.0 innings and giving up 5 hits and no runs on his way to the win. Carlos Hernandez had a pretty average performance, throwing 4.0 innings and allowing 2 runs to take the loss. Aroldis Chapman pitched a flawless 9th inning to record his fifth save on the season. 

Final: Yankees 3-0 Royals

Most Notable Player: Gerrit Cole (6.0 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 6 K) 

Game 3 - Judge Hits 2 Homers, Powers Yankees to 6-4 Win

Starters: Luis Severino (NYY) vs. Daniel Lynch (KC)

Aaron Judge got the Yankees going quickly in the first with a monster 453-foot solo shot. Things were quiet until the Royals came alive in the bottom of the 3rd, when Michael A. Taylor homered, then Cam Gallagher and Whit Merrifield singled, Andrew Benintendi walked, Nicky Lopez came around to score on a wild pitch after grounding into a fielder’s choice, and Carlos Santana hit an RBI double to make the score 3-1. They added to it in the 4th with singles from Kyle Isbel and Taylor, and an error on a Gallagher sacrifice bunt that brought Isbel around to score. The Yankees cut into the lead in the 5th. Miguel Andujar singled, Isiah Kiner-Falefa doubled, and DJ LeMahieu singled to make the Royals’ lead 4-3. They reclaimed the lead in the 7th by loading up the bases before Judge hit an RBI groundout, and Josh Donaldson brought in a run via fielder’s choice. In the 9th, Judge homered again to tack on a run for good measure, and the game ended 6-4. 

Luis Severino pitched 5.0 innings and gave up 3 runs, so it was Clarke Schmidt who recorded the win, pitching the 6th inning. Immediately after the game, Schmidt was optioned down to Triple-A. Dylan Coleman had a weak outing and took the loss after failing to record an out and giving up 2 runs and 2 walks in the 7th. Aroldis Chapman again recorded the save after allowing one hit and no runs in the 9th inning. 

Final: Yankees 6-4 Royals

Most Notable Player: Aaron Judge (2-5, 2 HR, 3 RBI)

Takeaways

For being swept in this series, the Royals have a lot of positives to look back on. The offense seemed a bit more effective than usual. The back end of their rotation didn’t allow any hugely crooked numbers to a very high-powered Yankees offense. The overall positive takeaway is that the Royals went up against one of the best teams in the MLB that just extended their winning streak to nine games, brought their 3, 4, and 5 pitchers, and faced some of the Yankees’ best pitching. However, a sweep is a sweep. The biggest negative would have to be the 26 runners left on base throughout the series. The Royals as a team have struggled all season to capitalize with runners on base, and this series highlighted that. A team at this level can’t expect to win games without taking advantage of those situations. In the end, this series could have gone much worse, but at least one win would have been a positive upside. 

Looking Ahead

The Royals’ difficulties won’t get any easier as they travel across Missouri to face off against the Cardinals in Busch Stadium. The series was initially supposed to be two games, but tomorrow they will make up the game that was postponed from the middle of April. The Royals will bring their top pitchers in to face a very strong Cardinals team that is slated to start Steven Matz, Dakota Hudson, and Adam Wainwright. This series will be a crucial and challenging opportunity for the Royals to right their ship once again.