Yankees 4, Royals 2: Home runs and Michael Pineda carry the Yankees to victory

Just as they did six days ago, the Yankees opened a series against the Kansas City Royals. And just as they did six days ago, the Yankees won.

This time around, Michael Pineda gave the Yankees 6.1 solid innings, and the offense did enough to get over the line. Home runs from Brett Gardner, Didi Gregorius, and Chris Carter provided all the offense the Yankees needed in a 4-2 win against the Royals.

In the third inning, the Royals opened the scoring. Jorge Bonifacio hit a ball to left that kept going and going until it just got over the wall for a solo home run. Later in the inning after Whit Merrifield reached on an single, he came all the way around to score when Alcides Escobar doubled.

The Yankees got on the board themselves in the bottom half of the third inning. Gardner hit a solo home run, cutting the Royals’ lead in half. Then the following inning, the Yankees took the lead. With two outs and Aaron Judge on base after a walk, Gregorius put one in the second deck to make it 3-2.

Other than the two runs in the third, Pineda kept the Royals off the board. Kansas City put runners on in a couple different innings, but he kept managing to get himself out of it. In the seventh, Pineda allowed a one out single to Jorge Soler and Joe Girardi went to the bullpen. The Yankees’ starter allowed two runs on six hits and a walk in his 6.1 innings. He also struck out six.

Adam Warren came in and struck out Merrifield, but threw a wild pitch in the process, allowing Soler to go to second. Escobar then hit a grounder that deflected off the pitcher’s mound. Starlin Castro made the play and threw to first, but Escobar was called safe. Some heads up baserunning saw Soler then come around and score to tie the game. However, the Yankees challenged the play. On review, it was overturned and Escobar was called out, ending the inning. The Yankees came extremely close to wasting Pineda’s solid start, but instead they were still clinging onto a lead.

After all that, the Yankees then got a run anyway when Carter hit a solo home run in the bottom of the seventh.

With an extra insurance run, Tyler Clippard threw scoreless eighth inning. In the ninth, Dellin Betances allowed a lead-off walk, but got three straight outs after that, sealing a 4-2 win.