With a potential playoff preview making its way to the Bronx, the Yankees overcame some sloppy defense in a 10-4 win over the second-place Royals on Monday.
Austin Wells provided the heroics in the teeter-totter affair, drilling a three-run homer off James McArthur in the seventh inning. The game-changing blast, which featured a nonchalant bat flip, gave Wells 13 home runs on the season and helped the first-place Yankees improve to 83-61.
Austin Wells (@Yankees) clobbers his 13th homer of the season!
🔥 108.4 mph
📏 404 ft pic.twitter.com/h35PTuPNhm— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) September 10, 2024
Wells wasn’t alone in the Yankees’ scoring efforts, as his longball followed an RBI single from Aaron Judge in the seventh inning.
Earlier, in the fourth frame, Jasson Domínguez’s decision to steal third prompted a throwing error from Salvador Perez. The Martian, recalled from Triple-A before the game, scored on the mishap.
Alex Verdugo — the man Yankees fans wanted Domínguez to replace — then crushed a two-run homer. The dinger, only Verdugo’s second of the second half, gave the Yankees a 3-2 lead.
That didn’t last long, as Perez hit a popup to shallow right field in the fifth. The ball fell at Gleyber Torres’ feet as the second baseman twisted and turned, but Juan Soto had a 95% catch probability on the play. While Perez got a hit out of the blunder, the Yankees nonetheless wasted an easy out while the speedy Bobby Witt Jr. scored from first base.
This play had a 95% catch probability, which was assigned to Juan Soto. #Yankees https://t.co/2dk08gg3xQ
— Gary Phillips (@GaryHPhillips) September 10, 2024
Ugly defense had already hurt the Yankees, as throwing errors from Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Wells allowed the Royals to score on a Perez single in the first inning.
Perez also hit a solo home run in the third inning, while Hunter Renfroe added one off Carlos Rodón in the sixth to give Kansas City the lead. Rodón totaled six innings, six hits, four runs (3 earned), one walk, nine strikeouts and 98 pitches.
Meanwhile, Royals starter Brady Singer allowed three earned runs over five innings before McArthur blew the game in the seventh.
The Yankees scored three more runs in the eighth when Torres picked up an RBI single, Judge hit into a double play, and Wells doubled to left.
With a series-opening victory recorded, the Yankees will look to win their second straight set on Tuesday. They will do so with Marcus Stroman on the mound.
Seth Lugo, a first-time All-Star, is scheduled to start for Kansas City.