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The last time the Yankees took the field, almost everything went wrong in their 10-7 loss to the Astros. Cut to two days later, and almost everything went right in Kansas City.
CC Sabathia had struggled in his recent outings, but he put in 6.2 scoreless innings against the Royals, allowing just five hits and two walks. Home runs from Gary Sanchez and Chris Carter gave Sabathia and the Yankees more than enough run support. Throw in a couple good defensive plays, and it all added up to a 7-1 Yankees win over the Royals.
After putting runners on in the first two innings, the Yankees got on the board in the third. Carter led off the inning with a single before Brett Gardner worked a walk. That brought up Sanchez, who put one over the wall in straight away center, giving the Yankees a lead.
An inning later, another homer gave the Yankees some breathing room. After a two-out Didi Gregorius single, Carter did the damage that time, hitting a two-run home run. In the seventh, three straight singles from Starlin Castro, Aaron Judge, and Jacoby Ellsbury plated another run, making it 6-0.
Through the first six innings, Sabathia didn’t face much trouble. He got some defensive help from the likes of Gardner and Chase Headley, but he had allowed just three hits up to that point. In the seventh, the Royals loaded the bases with a double, a walk, and a infield single. That forced Sabathia from the game as Joe Girardi brought in Tyler Clippard. The Yankees’ reliever struck out Whit Merrifield to leave the bases loaded and keep the shutout intact.
The Yankees got another insurance run in the eighth, and Clippard followed that with a scoreless inning. In the ninth, Jonathan Holder loaded the bases, and the Yankees eventually lost the shut out. However, he only allowed the one run and finished off the inning and the win.
Other than losing the shutout in the ninth, the opener in Kansas City went about as well as the Yankees could have hoped.