Yankees lineup vs. Royals & David Adams sent down for Travis Ishikawa

The Yankees have won two straight series against the Minnesota Twins and Baltimore Orioles and will try to make it three in a row as the Kansas City Royals visit Yankee Stadium for a four-game set starting tonight.

Tonight's lineup: Gardner 8 Almonte 7 Cano 4 hafner dh wells 9 ishikawa 3 Cruz 6 Gonzalez 5 Romine 2 Hughes 1

— Erik Boland (@eboland11) July 8, 2013

David Adams is no longer listed on the clubhouse roster, making it likely that he is the move to get Travis Ishikawa onto the 25-man roster. The Yankees claimed Ishikawa off waivers from Baltimore yesterday and he'll make his Yankee debut tonight at first base. Ichiro Suzuki also gets the night off with Zoilo Almonte slotting into the second spot in the lineup. After the first three batters, things fall off in a hurry.

Brett Gardner has gone 5-12 with a double and triple against Royals starter Jeremy Guthrie. Vernon Wells and Robinson Cano have found success in the power department off Guthrie, having hit three and two home runs off the right-hander, respectively. With Adams being sent down, the only third basemen on the roster are Luis Cruz and Alberto Gonzalez, both of which are in the lineup tonight with Eduardo Nunez getting the day off.

On the Yankees' side, tonight's starter Phil Hughes is coming off two strong starts against the Rangers and Twins. Of the Royals with double digit at-bats against Hughes, he has had the most trouble with Alex Gordon, who is batting .375/.444/.438 against him. Mike Moustakas and Jarrod Dyson are the only Royals that have hit homers off Hughes, which will hopefully mean that he can contain the long ball tonight.

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