Yankees rally for two runs in ninth inning to beat Royals, 4-3

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The New York Yankees continue to be the Kansas City Royals’ nemeses.

And the Royals came close to vanquishing their longtime adversaries at Kauffman Stadium on Monday afternoon.

The Royals took a 3-2 lead in the eighth inning of the Memorial Day game thanks to Bobby Witt Jr.’s emphatic solo homer off Yankees reliever Jake Bird. When the ball carried into the left-field seats, it seemed like that could be the deciding blow.

“Just getting the lead is always exciting,” Witt said. “And to do it against a team like that, with the crowd we had out here, is a lot of fun.”

The Royals’ fun would not last long. Anthony Volpe hit a two-run single in the ninth off reliever Lucas Erceg and the Yankees escaped with a 4-3 victory.

“I mean, it sucks,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said. “There’s no other way to put it. They beat us in the ninth.

“Bobby’s huge swing ... Salvy’s huge swing ... there was a ton of good things that happened during the game. And it’s unfortunate that’s the way it ended, but sometimes, you get beat.”

The Royals (22-32) have now lost 11 consecutive regular-season games to the Yankees. KC’s last regular-season win against New York’s AL franchise came on Sept. 10, 2024.

Monday’s loss was the fifth for the Royals during their nine-game homestand. Two more games remain in this series, Tuesday and Wednesday, against the Yankees.

Wacha duels with Bronx Bombers

Few lineups across Major League Baseball are constructed quite like the Yankees’ fearsome batting order.

New York’s lineup is sprinkled with All-Stars, led by three-time MVP Aaron Judge. So facing the Yankees makes for a long day at the office for any big-league pitcher.

On Monday afternoon, however, Royals starter Michael Wacha neutralized New York’s lineup for six innings. The 34-year-old right-hander allowed two runs and five hits while striking out four.

Wacha shook off a mistake in the second inning. Yankees slugger Cody Bellinger turned around a 91.9-mph fastball on the inside corner for his seventh home run of the year.

“Very tough lineup,” Wacha said. “And with any lineup in this league, you’ve just got to make pitches. You’ve got to be able to mix, make pitches and quality pitches. Get ahead and be able to put them away with soft contact or swing-and-miss.

“For the most part, I was able to do that today besides kind of that second inning.”

Wacha surrendered two runs in the second but otherwise limited the damage. A two-out walk led to New York’s second run, via Jose Caballero’s RBI single, but that was it offensively for the visitors — off Wacha, anyway.

Wacha didn’t allow a run in his final five innings. He threw 59 of his 93 pitches for strikes, relying primarily on his fastball and change-up. He also showcased his curveball, which registered seven swings and three whiffs, per Baseball Savant.

“I didn’t really care for the fastball command too much,” Wacha said. “Just missing over the middle a little too much, but other than that, stuff was good and was located well at times.”

The Royals did enough to take Wacha off the hook. Michael Massey hit a sacrifice fly in the second inning and team captain Salvador Perez tied the game at 2 with a solo homer in the sixth.

Perez is now six homers shy of setting the Royals’ career record. He also pulled into a tie with Hall of Famer George Brett with his 136th career homer at Kauffman Stadium.

“Better when we win ...” Perez said. “It’s good when you tie a Hall of Famer like George Brett, you know. It feels pretty good. I would rather win.”

Back-to-back rough outings for Erceg

Wacha eventually handed things over to the Royals’ bullpen. Daniel Lynch IV threw a scoreless eighth inning before Erceg blew the save opportunity in the ninth.

“I was just ready to do my job today and I didn’t do it,” Erceg said.

Erceg got one out, then put Yankees on second and third by allowing a single to Paul Goldschmidt and double to Jazz Chisholm Jr. That set the stage for Volpe to lace a go-ahead, two-run single to left.

“I mean, you can call it bad luck, you can call it whatever you want,” Erceg said. “But, we lost today. Tarnished a good outing from Wacha, game-tying homer from Salvy and go-ahead homer from Bobby. It’s all washed away.”

Yankees closer David Bednar earned his 12th save by retiring the Royals in order in the bottom of the ninth.

Erceg, meanwhile, struggled for the second straight day when summoned to pitch the ninth inning. On Sunday he allowed three runs, all earned, on four hits in making the Royals’ 8-6 victory over Seattle closer than it needed to be.

“This game’s hard and I don’t want to make it harder,” Erceg said. “I’m gonna try to absorb the last two (outings) and keep simplifying things. Just trying to get ahead of guys. Maybe make a better two-strike pitch to Volpe there, but that’s a tough game.”

The Yankees (32-22) now have 12 comeback wins this season.

What’s next?

The Royals continue their three-game series against the Yankees on Tuesday. KC announced starter Bailey Falter to oppose New York right-hander Cam Schlittler (6-2, 1.50 ERA) in the evening game at Kauffman Stadium. First pitch is set for 6:40 p.m. Central Time.