Yankees 8, Royals 3: Andy, A-Rod Lead Yanks

The Yankees offense finally broke through and Andy Pettitte tossed seven strong innings as the Yanks defeated the Royals 8-2 on Wednesday night in the Bronx.

Curtis Granderson got the Yankees on the board with a solo homer in the first inning, his fourteenth of the season, to give Pettitte an early lead. Later in the inning, Alex Rodriguez belted a two-run dinger to left to increase the lead to 3-0.

In the third, Mark Teixeira grounded into a double play that plated Derek Jeter, who went 3-for-5 on the day. A-Rod then picked up his second homer of the night, a no-doubter into left-center field. It was nice to finally see A-Rod drive the ball with some loft.

The final Yankee runs came in the fifth inning, as Teixeira drew a bases loaded walk, Robinson Cano grounded into a force out that scored Granderson, and Andruw Jones drew another bases loaded walk.

On the other side of the ball, Andy Pettitte was outstanding. Over seven innings of work, Pettitte allowed just two runs - each coming on solo homers, one a Yankee Stadium special from Billy Butler and another off the bat of Mitch Maier. On the night, Pettitte allowed seven hits and walked only one while striking out eight in a fantastic outing.

His night wasn't perfect, however. In the third, he had a run saved on an inning-ending double play started by Mark Teixeira. In the fourth, Pettitte struck out Humberto Quintero to escape a bases loaded jam. His final three innings of were much better, as Pettitte settled down to face just one batter over the minimum.

David Phelps relieved Pettitte in the eighth inning after he walked Alex Gordon, and completed the game. He allowed just one run on a bloop double off the bat of Eric Hosmer, who quite possibly had the weakest three-hit game I've ever seen.

For the Yankees, they finally scored a decent amount of runs and have had two good pitching performances in a row. Even better, they've now won two in a row after losing six of their last seven games. Next up, Ivan Nova will pitch in Oakland on Friday night.

Box Score.

Comment of the Game: Xavier10, with the form comment for Derek Jeter making history (tying Paul Waner for 16th on the all-time hits list).