Yankees 6, Royals 2: Offense strikes early and often while McCarthy impresses again

After yesterday's game, I thought things couldn't get worse for the Yankees. And while they may at some point, today was not that day. The Yankees started the scoring early and for once kept adding runs. And they made sure not to waste another excellent outing from Brandon McCarthy. The Yankees' starter allowed two runs in 6.2 innings as the Yankees came away with a 6-2 win over the Royals.

After McCarthy threw a scoreless inning in the first, Danny Duffy took the mound for the Royals in the bottom half of the inning. After the first pitch he threw, several Royals immediately gestured to the dugout and the trainers came out and Duffy was removed from the game. Whatever it was, it didn't look good. As unfortunate as the situation is, the Yankees were able to take advantage against new Royals' pitcher Liam Hendriks. With two outs in the first, Martin Prado kept the inning alive with a double. Mark Teixeira followed that up with a single to give the Yankees an early 1-0 lead.

The Royals would get that run back in the top of the third. Mike Moustakas led off the inning with a single. McCarthy got the next two outs, but Omar Infante would keep the inning alive with a single. That brought Alex Gordon to the plate. Gordon hit one towards Jacoby Ellsbury at second. Ellsbury nearly made a sliding catch, but just couldn't come up with the ball. Ellsbury quickly got up and made a nice throw to get Infante who was trying to advance to third. A run scored on the play, but the Yankees got out of that bit of a jam with the game tied.

In the bottom half of the third, the Yankees retook the lead. John Ryan Murphy led off the inning with a single. Ellsbury followed that with a triple to center. That scored Murphy and gave the Yankees the lead again. Derek Jeter then flied out to right-center, but it was deep enough for Ellsbury to tag up and score.

An inning later, the Yankees added even more thanks to some Royals' derp. Chase Headley led off the inning with a single. After Zelous Wheeler struck out, Brendan Ryan grounded out, moving Headley to second. Murphy then lined one back up the middle. It appeared to deflect off Hendriks' hand and go to Infante at second. Infante's throw to first was late, Murphy to reach on a single and Headley to move to third. On the first pitch of the next at bat, Salvador Perez attempted to snap throw to third to pick off Headley, but the throw was way too high. That allowed Headley to score and made it 4-1.

And then in the fifth: more runs! Prado got things going with a one-out double. After Teixeira struck out, Carlos Beltran doubled to score Prado. Chase Headley then drew a walk, bringing a pinch-hitting Ichiro Suzuki to the plate. Ichiro singled, scoring Beltran and making it 6-1.

A few innings later, the Royals got one of those runs back. Josh Willingham led off the top of the seventh with a double. Carlos Peguero then grounded out, but that moved Willingham over to third. A Moustakas sac fly brought a run home and brought McCarthy's day to an end. It was another nice outing for him. He went 6.2 innings, allowing two runs on six hits and one walk while striking out four. Shawn Kelley came in and got the last out of the seventh inning. Dellin Betances would pitch a 1-2-3 eighth inning, which included one strike out.

After the Yankees couldn't add to their lead in the eighth, David Robertson came in for the ninth. Robertson had no trouble. He threw a 1-2-3 innings and finished off a 6-2 win for the Yankees.

The Yankees and Royals will finish up their series tomorrow 1:05 eastern. Or at least that's what time it's supposed to start. It probably won't due to tomorrow being Derek Jeter Day. I would expect to feel a lot of feelings tomorrow. Shane Greene and Yordano Ventura will be the starting pitchers.

Box score.