It was a fun game.
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New York Yankees Dustin Ackley watches a seventh-inning RBI single in a baseball game against the Kansas City Royals at Yankee Stadium in New York, Tuesday, May 10, 2016. On Tuesday night, the defending World Champions found a new way to lose, scoring a season-best seven runs, but allowing eight to lose a heartbreaker.
WASHINGTON – Victor Martinez had four hits and drove in a run and Nick Castellanos had a two-run homer and reached base three times as Detroit beat Washington to even the three-game interleague series. The Royals have allowed a 1st inning run in 7 of their last 8 games, and 8 of their last 10 games. Two were opposite-field jacks. But Cain’s third home run in the top of the eighth off Miller tied the game once again before the Yankees’ explosive bottom half. 500 mark (15-15) and are coming off a series in which they dropped two-out-of-three to the Cleveland Indians on the road.
Royals starter Kris Medlen, who lost his previous three starts, was pulled with no outs in the third.
But Tanaka surrendered the lead in the top of the second on a two-run homer by Cuthbert on a 2-0 slider. But that disappeared with the first batter that Miller faced, as Cain delivered his third homer of the night. His longest outing of the season came against Baltimore and saw him get through six quality innings. Miller (2-0) had been unscored upon as well.
“I’d pay a ticket to watch that”, said Yankees catcher Brian McCann, who added a two-run double off the fence in right-center later in the eighth. Tanaka surrendered six runs – including three homers, one more than he’d given up all season – and still departed after seven innings with a one-run lead. The Royals rallied from deficits of 1-0, 5-3 and 7-6 as Cain tied his career high with five RBIs. It disappeared after a freakish inning that was marked by another balk from Joakim Soria and another blown lead. Moments later, Aaron Hicks gave the Yankees a 7-6 lead with an RBI double to left field.
After getting Headley out, rookie Ben Gamel hit a chopper right to Alcides Escobar, but the normally sure-handed shortstop booted the ball for an error. Starlin Castro (.296, 8 Rs, 3 HRs, 12 RBIs, 2 SBs) went 1 for 3 yesterday. The Yankees defeated the Royals 10-7. Even in the wide open American League, you need your pitching to give you a chance to win, especially when your team is in last place in the American League in runs scored. The Royals have lost 11 of their last 14 games and sit at 15-17 on the season.
Herrera took the loss. Francisco Rodriguez pitched the ninth for his eighth save as he retired Murphy for the final out with two runners on base.
Aroldis Chapman, who returned from a 29-game domestic violence suspension on Monday, followed with a hitless ninth for his first Yankees save (see full recap). He gave up only 16 home runs on the season, which isn’t bad for a pitcher who’s prone to allow fly balls. When Cain went deep for a second time in the fifth, hitting a three-run shot, the reinforced spine of the Royals bullpen took over.
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Kansas City Royals center fielder Lorenzo Cain (6) hits a three run home run against the New York Yankees during the fifth inning at Yankee Stadium. Kansas City also had an arguably improved pitching staff with the addition of Ian Kennedy and the continued growth of Yordano Ventura.
