Yankees Recap: Yankees (23-22) end skid in 14-1 beatdown of Royals (28-16)

After losing six straight, and 10 out of 11, the New York Yankees needed to end their skid and fast.  Following a scoreless top of the first, the Yankees came out of the gates swinging.  Brett Gardner led off the bottom half of the inning with a double, and Chase Headley wasted no time putting the Yankees on the board hitting a first-pitch two-run home run.

Following a single by Alex Rodriguez and a walk to Mark Teixeira, Brian McCann made it a 5-0 game five batters in, as he hit a three-run home run.  Kansas City Royals pitcher Jeremy Guthrie was finally able to record his first two outs.

His luck would end there though, as after he hit Didi Gregorius, and allowed a single to Slade Heathcott, Gardner added a three-run home run of his own, making it 8-0 in the first.  Guthrie, who did not have his best stuff, allowed a single to Headley and walked Rodriguez, but was able to escape the jam and the inning by retiring Teixeira.

Yankees starting Nathan Eovaldi set the Royals down 1-2-3 in the second, and Guthrie’s struggles continued.  After a walk to McCann, and a single by Garrett Jones, Stephen Drew hit the Yankees third three-run home run, and fourth overall, making it an 11-0 game, and ending Guthrie’s night in the bottom of the second.  He only lasted one inning, allowing 11 runs on 9 hits and 3 walks.  Every Yankee starter had reached base only three outs into the game.

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Brandon Finnegan replaced Guthrie, setting Gregorius, Heathcott, and Gardner down in order ending the inning.  After an uneventful third, Eovaldi faced trouble in the fourth, allowing runners to get to first and third with only one out.  Headley made a great play on an Omar Infante liner to save a run, and one batter later, Eovaldi escaped the jam with his shutout still in tact.

Eovaldi once again faced trouble in the fifth, allowing a one-out double to Alcides Escobar.  Jarrod Dyson, who entered the game for Lorenzo Cain in the fourth, drove Escobar in with a bloop single to center field.  He was caught stealing to end the inning on a play that the umpires originally got wrong, but overturned after a Joe Girardi review.

In the bottom of the fifth, Franklin Morales took over for Finnegan, who pitched three scoreless inning.  The Yankees quickly got the run back for Eovaldi, as Gardner was walked with one out.  A wild pitch allowed Gardner to move to second, and Headley brought him in with a run-scoring double.  Rodriguez hit what likely would have been an RBI double, but Paulo Orlando made a great play, and nearly doubled Headley off second.  Teixeira grounded out, stranding Headley, and leaving the score at 12-1 after five.

After a quiet sixth and top of the seventh, the Yankees got going again in the bottom of the seventh.  With Greg Holland now pitching, Gregorius walked, and Heathcott hit the first home run of his young major league career, pushing the lead to 14-1.  Holland walked Headley, and was replaced by Jason Frasor, who allowed a bloop single to Rodriguez.  Chris Young, who entered in the top half of the seventh, grounded into a force out, retiring Jose Pirela, who ran for Headley, at third, and McCann flew out, ending the threat.

Eovaldi returned for the top of the eighth, but his night was done following a leadoff single by Dyson.  He allowed one run on eighth hits across seven innings pitched.  Eovaldi was replaced by Jacob Lindgren, making his major league debut.  Lindgren forced Eric Hosmer to ground into a double play, and after a walk to Kendrys Morales, he induced an inning-ending fly out from Salvador Perez.

In the top of the ninth, Lindgren walked Christian Colon, before recording his first two strikeouts, getting Orlando and Drew Butera both swinging.  Escobar then flew to right ending the game, and making it a successful debut for Lindgren.

There was a lot to like in the 14-1 victory, as the offense and pitching finally clicked together, helping the Yankees avoid losing 11 out of 12 for the first time since 1991.

Next: Yankees Editorial: Slade Heathcott Soaks In First MLB Start

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