Gerrit Cole struck out 10 and pitched 6 1/3 innings of two-run ball before DJ LeMahieu hit a tiebreaking home run to open the seventh inning as the host New York Yankees defeated the Kansas City Royals 5-2 on Saturday afternoon.
The Yankees won their second straight game following a 2-9 skid and secured a series win for the first time since taking two of three in Oakland from June 27-29. New York clinched a series win over the Royals for the 15th straight time.
Cole allowed five hits and notched his fourth double-double digit strikeout game this season. The right-hander allowed two runs or fewer for the 16th time this season.
Cole was lifted at 99 pitches and Wandy Peralta (3-1) got two groundouts to keep the game tied midway through the seventh until LeMahieu hit a full-count, 98-mph fastball from Carlos Hernandez (0-6) into the right-center field seats.
It was LeMahieu’s eighth homer and first since connecting off Max Scherzer on June 13 in the Yankees’ 7-6 win over the Mets. It also was LeMahieu’s first homer in the Bronx since May 27 against the San Diego Padres.
Giancarlo Stanton had an RBI single in the first inning off Kansas City starter Brady Singer and Anthony Volpe helped manufacture New York’s second run in the third. Stanton padded the lead with a two-run homer in the eighth.
Volpe opened the third with a double, stole third and scored on a sacrifice fly by Gleyber Torres.
Nick Pratto homered in the third for the Royals and Maikel Garcia hit a game-tying single in the fifth as Kansas City dropped to 3-13 over its past 16 contests since consecutive home wins over the Los Angeles Dodgers on July 1-2.
Singer, who allowed one hit in seven scoreless innings on July 28, 2022, at New York, gave up two runs on five hits in six innings on Saturday. The former first-round pick struck out nine and walked one.
Yankees right-hander Tommy Kahnle followed Peralta with two strikeouts in the eighth. Clay Holmes put two on in the ninth before securing his 13th save.
–Field Level Media
