The Yankees scored in the first inning and led the entire game, beating the Kansas City Royals 4-2 on Monday night.
Here are some takeaways…
– In his first at bat after a three-game absence, Juan Soto hit it up the middle against the Royals starter Seth Lugo. He then moved up to second place Gleyber Torres‘ single and came around to score Alex Verdugo‘s single to left, giving the Yanks an early 1-0 lead. DJ LeMahieu dropped a perfect sacrifice bunt for Torres to score and make it 2-0.
– Carlos Rodon cruised through the first three innings without allowing a hit. Rodon did get some help from the right fielder Jahmai Jones, who kept the Royals against the wall with a catch to end the third inning. The left-hander needed just six pitches to break through the KC order in the fourth, thanks to a flyout and two groundouts.
– Jose Trevino made it a 4-0 game with his second hit of the night in the fourth inning, this time a two-out single to center, driving in LeMahieu and Trent Grisham. New York came close to adding more into the frame, but Anthony Volpe flied out to right with runners on the corners to end the scoring opportunity.
– Rodon’s no-no was interrupted in the top of the fifth inning, as he allowed a leadoff single Nelson Velázquez and an infield single for Nick Loftin. He then worked around some trouble and got a double play and a flyout to end the inning.
He gave up two hits in the bottom of the seventh inning and had one Freddy Fermin until his final strike with two outs, but he gave up a single to center as the Royals came on the board to make it a 4-1 game. After a hill visit, Rodon arrived MJ Melendez a grounder to second to stop the damage. He closed after seven strong innings, allowing one run on five hits with three strikeouts over 103 pitches.
– Ian Hamilton came in to pitch the eighth inning and gave up a two-out, RBI double Bobby Whit Jr. to make it a 4-2 match. The deliverer failed Salvador Perez to keep the lead intact. Michael Tonkin relieved Hamilton in the ninth and got his first save of the year on 17 pitches.
MVP of the game: Carlos Rodon
The southpaw improved to 9-2 this season and lowered his ERA to 2.93. Since allowing six runs in a loss to the Baltimore Orioles on May 2, Rodon has gone 7-0 and pitched to a 2.28 ERA and 0.85 WHIP.
Highlights
Upcoming schedule
The Yankees continue a four-game series against the Kansas City Royals on Tuesday at 8:10 p.m
Marcus Stroman (5-2, 3.04 ERA) gets the start for NY and will face RHP Brady singer (4-2, 2.76 ERA) for KC.
