New York Yankees at Kansas City Royals: Series Recap

Game 1: 8/9/21, 8:10 PM (Yankees win 8-6)

After nearly 5 hours of baseball, 4 blown saves by the bullpen (most in MLB history in a single game), and 5 go ahead hits later, the Yanks take game 1. Jameson Tallion had yet another excellent start. Since June 29th, his ERA has dropped from a 5.43 all the way down to a 3.82, he has a 1.25 ERA since July 1st which is best in the majors with at least 30 IP. Both teams drew up zeros through the first 6 innings. In the 7th, Yanks drew first blood thanks to a 2-out RBI single by Luke Voit. Aaron Judge was called out at home the previous play, after review the call stood. It was really an obvious safe call as his foot clearly got in before the tag but umpires didn’t overturn it, Yanks would score a run anyway but it should’ve been 2.

Loaisiga would replace Tallion in the 7th after he allowed a lead off single, he threw away a pickoff attempt that allowed the runner to go to 2nd then was called for a rare balk, which led to an unearned run being score on a sac fly the next batter. Manager Aaron Boone was livid and went nuts and would get ejected immediately. Love to see Boone showing heart after a bad call. Nonetheless at this point it’s a 1-1 game heading to the 8th. In the 8th, New York was set up with 2 on and 1 out, Judge snapped a single to right field bringing in a run to give them a 2-1 lead. Unfortunately, Kansas City would tie it right back up in the bottom of the 8th off Chad Green.

In the 9th, Voit would give the Yanks another lead with an opposite field solo homer giving them a 3-2 lead. Yet again, the Royals tied the game at 3 while being down to their final strike in the bottom of the frame. In extras top of the 10th, Higashioka would give New York ANOTHER lead with a sac fly and then Brett Gardner would give them a 2 run cushion with an RBI single making it 5-3 New York. Clay Holmes would blow yet another lead with the Royals down to their final strike and he gave up a game tying 2-run single to tie things up at 5. 4 blown saves in 1 game for the Yankee bullpen. Thankfully, DJ LeMahieu would bring in Joey Gallo with an RBI double making it 6-5, later in inning with 2 on and 2 out Gardner would give the Yanks a 8-5 lead with a booted 2-run single. The 8-5 lead was not blown this time, but in the bottom of the inning Royals threatened, they were able to push across a run to make it 8-6 but Wandy Peralta stranded the other 2 runners on picking up the save. Clay Holmes got the undeserving win and Greg Holland took the loss for Kansas City. Great to get the win especially with no other AL East teams playing so Yanks with the win automatically gained .5 games in the standings. Things are getting very tight in the AL East and Wild Card races. Same time same place tomorrow night.

Game 2: 8/10/21, 8:10 PM (Royals win 8-4)

This was a very ugly and sloppy play by the Yankees as they commit 4 errors en route to a disappointing 8-4 loss. Starter Nestor Cortes wasn’t bad, the defense behind him was atrocious making Cortes’ pitching line look messy. His line: 5.2 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 0 BB, 5 K. It was good that he gave them some length which was needed. As for the offense, they scored 4 runs which is average but should’ve scored a lot more. They stranded 7 runners, a really poor situational hitting. After being down 2-0 in the 1st from a Salvador Perez homer, Yanks would chip one across in the 3rd inning on a wild pitch that scored Andrew Velazquez who was called up from the minors. Yankees would take a lead in the 4th on a Higashioka long homer giving them a 3-2 lead for the moment. Kansas City would then tie it right back up in the 5th, Higashioka would commit a throwing error allowing Whit Merrifield to score. Gary Sanchez wouldn’t have made that error if he was playing, just saying. LeMahieu would give the Yanks a 4-3 lead in the 6th on an RBI single scoring Davis. It all came crashing down for the Yanks after that, Steve Ridings had his 1st blemish as a Yankee giving up 2 runs and the lead, only 1 earned run due to his own throwing error. Nick Nelson would give up another run in the 8th, unearned due to an error by Luke Voit. Just an awful game played by the Yanks, and they didn’t deserve to win this one. Cortes took the tough loss and Josh Staumont got the win.

Game 3: 8/11/21, 2:05 PM (Yanks win 5-2)

That’s another series win and successful bullpen day. This is their 9th series win in the last 10 series. Yanks have been playing great baseball. Lucas Luetge the starter pitched as you could imagine an “opener” pitching. As for the offense, they racked up 5 runs on 12 hits so they did their job. They got on the board quick with 3 runs in the 1st inning, Voit contributed with a 2-run single while Odor smacked an RBI single of his own making it a 3-0 early lead. Leutge allowed 1 run in 2 innings of work. He did his job. In the 4th, LeMahieu added an RBI single of his own and later in the inning Judge also had an RBI single extending the lead to 5-1. The Royals got within 5-2 thanks to another error by Odor, man he is horrible defensively at times. The bullpen pitched great, this Royals team is fast and feisty, they run the bases really well and can score runs. Chad Green picked up the win while Brady Singer took the loss.

Bullpen Lines

Leutge: 2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 1 H

Abreu: 2.1 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 4 K

Rodriguez: .2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 K

Green: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K

Loaisiga: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K

Britton: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K

My thoughts:

Another great series win, that’s 9 of the last 10 series wins. Can’t complain with good pitching and good enough situational hitting in games 1 and 3. Game 2 is a blur as they simply played horrible, it was really tough watching these errors that middle school ball players could make but professionals couldn’t. Whatever we’ll always take a series win!

What’s next?

The Royals stay home to take on crosstown rival St. Louis Cardinals in some inter league action in a 3 game set. The Yankees head to Dyersville, Iowa to take on the Chicago White Sox at the Field of Dreams. This will be the 1st ever game in the state of Iowa so that’s pretty cool stuff. Huge incoming 3 set game with the White Sox. Keep winning.