The New York Yankees were unable to complete the four-game sweep of the Kansas City Royals on Sunday afternoon at Yankee Stadium as they blew a late lead and dropped the series finale, 8-6.
Jordan Montgomery started for New York and was cruising through four shutout innings. Then, the left-hander ran into trouble in the fifth and was pulled from the game. Montgomery allowed four runs on four hits over four innings while walking two and striking out six.
The game was scoreless until the top of the fifth inning when the Royals plated four runs to grab a 4-0 lead. Nick Pratto put Kansas City on the board with a two-run single. Maikel Garcia followed that with an RBI double. Whit Merrifield capped off the inning with a run-scoring groundout. In the bottom of the frame, the Yankees responded and cut the lead to one. Kyle Higashioka put New York on the board with an RBI single. Then, DJ LeMahieu launched a two-run home run into the right-field seats to make it 4-3. That was his 11th long ball of the season.
In the bottom of the seventh, Anthony Rizzo crushed a three-run home run into the second deck in right to give the Yankees a 6-4 lead. That was his 25th homer of the season. However, the lead did not last long.
Kansas City made it a 6-5 game in the top of the eighth as Hunter Dozier drilled a solo shot over the left-field wall.
Clay Holmes tried to nail down the win for the Yankees in the ninth, but it did not go well. With two on and one out, Salvador Perez smacked a three-run home run to straightaway center to put the Royals back on top, 8-6. That was Holmes’ third blown save of the season. New York had an opportunity to tie the game or win it in the bottom of the ninth, but Gleyber Torres lined out to center to end the game.
Ron Marinaccio surrendered a run in relief, snapping his 19-inning scoreless streak. Albert Abreu, Wandy Peralta, Jonathan Loáisiga, and Lucas Luetge had clean outings.
The Yankees will open a three-game series with the Seattle Mariners in the Bronx on Monday. Domingo Germán will make his third start since coming off the injured list. The first pitch is slated for 7:05 p.m.
Kyle leads sports coverage and hosts the Concrete Jungle podcast. Have a lead or question? Send it to [email protected].