New York Yankees @ Kansas City Royals: Luis Severino vs. Daniel Lynch

After taking the first two games in Kansas City, each win coming in wildly disparate fashion, New York takes aim for the three-game road sweep of the Royals this afternoon. The Yankees, winners of eight straight games, sit alone atop the American League East and boast the best run differential in the junior circuit.

Luis Severino is tasked with holding the Royals down today so the Bronx Bombers can hopefully head to Toronto with a series sweep and a nine-game winning streak. Pitching out of the rotation for the first time in years, Sevy has been outstanding so far in 2022. His last time out, he pitched far better than his final line indicated. The Orioles did not manage to put a runner on base until the fifth inning, and three of the four runs charged to Sevy came when Anthony Santander managed to poke at a changeup off the plate and loft it just over the left-field wall. All told, Sevy still threw six innings on the night, and looked darn good doing it.

For the Royals, portside slinger Daniel Lynch has the unenviable task of trying to suppress the Yankee lineup. The 25-year-old sophomore has pitched well early for Kansas City, though in a limited sample size, he has been a bit vulnerable to the long ball, surrendering 1.7 HR/9. Lynch mostly features a four-seam fastball that averages 94-mph and a slider, offering them 45 percent and 38 percent of the time, respectively. He mixes in a changeup (14% of his pitches) and the very rare curveball (2%).

After getting a day off yesterday, Aaron Judge makes his return to the Yankees lineup. After a somewhat slow start to the season, he has raked over the past couple of weeks, to the tune of a .309/.377/.691 batting line with six dingers. Sitting out today is Joey Gallo. After tweaking his groin last night and leaving the game, it makes sense that Gallo gets the day off to rest up. Anthony Rizzo will also take a seat with DJ LeMahieu manning first.

A few Yankees have previously seen Lynch and experienced a bit of success. Most notably, Kyle Higashioka has taken Lynch deep in one of his two at-bats versus the hurler. And if ever a fellow could use a dinger, it is Higgy, whose incandescent spring seems like a lifetime ago. He is one of 33 American Leaguers with at least 45 PA who has yet to go deep in 2022 (the ice-cold new Ranger Marcus Semien leads the pack at 93 PA).

All right. Play today. Sweep today. Let’s head across the border to Toronto with a nine-game winning streak in tow and get ready for a tough series with the pesky Blue Jays, who sit only 1.5 games back of the Yankees in the AL East as May begins.

How to watch

Location: Kauffman Stadium — Kansas City, MO

First pitch: 2:10 pm ET

TV broadcast: YES – NYY / Bally Sports KC – KCR

Radio broadcast: WFAN 660/101.9, WADO 1280 / KCSP 610

Online stream: MLB.tv

For updates, follow us on Twitter and Instagram, and like us on Facebook.