MLB

Kansas City Royals at New York Yankees

· Major League Baseball
Kansas City Royals
80-66, 35-36 Away
Final
5 - 0
New York Yankees
83-62, 38-32 Home

Seth Lugo dominates the Yankees for his 16th victory as the Royals win 5-0

Pitching in New York City for the first time since spending his first seven seasons across town with the Mets from 2016-22, Lugo absolutely dominated.

“I’m looking forward to going back and watching that, to be honest, because he must have been on the corners all night,” Kansas City manager Matt Quatraro said. "He got the breaking ball going to get the swing and miss. He elevated when he needed to. I mean, that was a pitching clinic.”

Tommy Pham homered and Bobby Witt Jr. had an RBI single for the Royals, who remained 3 1/2 games behind first-place Cleveland in the AL Central. They hold a 2 1/2-game edge over Minnesota for the league's second wild card.

New York's advantage in the AL East was shaved to a half-game over second-place Baltimore, which won 5-3 at Boston.

“We know they’re in line to make the playoffs," Lugo said. “With the atmosphere here in New York, I think the emphasis for a lot of guys on the team is getting used to this kind of atmosphere. This is what we’re going to face.”

In a potential postseason preview, Lugo (16-8) carved up a full-strength Yankees lineup that entered leading the majors in homers and ranked second in runs.

“That was probably as good a performance (as there's been) against us this year. We were silent,” New York manager Aaron Boone said. “He's throwing the kitchen sink at you. He's changing speeds.”

The right-hander allowed only three singles and walked none, retiring 17 straight batters after Gleyber Torres' bloop hit to begin the bottom of the first.

Torres snapped the string on another soft single off Lugo with two outs in the sixth.

“I think he was mixing up pitches really well tonight. He was pounding the strike zone,” Yankees slugger Juan Soto said. “It's tough with a guy who has like nine pitches, and he was showing every pitch today. So, he was throwing everything, he was confident about it, and he just kept us off balance.”

Kris Bubic and John Schreiber each fanned two in a perfect inning to complete the three-hitter, as New York failed to advance a runner to second base. It was Kansas City's first shutout against the Yankees since May 2015 at Kauffman Stadium.

Lugo tied Atlanta ace Chris Sale and Detroit lefty Tarik Skubal for most wins in the majors.

“I was locating all of my pitches and I don’t think there was a pitch that I didn’t think I could throw where I wanted," Lugo said. “It was just one of those nights. I had everything working.”

The right-hander outpitched former Mets teammate Marcus Stroman (10-8), who permitted three runs and seven hits in 5 1/3 innings.

No. 9 batter Kyle Isbel scored twice after leadoff singles for the Royals, who had dropped six consecutive road games. They won for the fifth time in 13 games overall and improved to 2-4 against the Yankees this season.

“That lineup is relentless so you don’t ever really get comfortable,” Lugo said. “I think it really comes down to the game yesterday. Tough loss and really wanted to even the series right there. So I think it was important.”

TRAINER’S ROOM

Royals: RHP Michael Lorenzen (left hamstring strain) was tagged for three runs and five hits over 1 2/3 innings during a rehab start with Double-A Northwest Arkansas. He threw 38 pitches. It's possible Lorenzen could rejoin the big league rotation next week. ... LHP Will Smith (back spasms) planned to throw another bullpen at less than full intensity. "He’s still not completely symptom-free in his back. But he’s working through the bullpens,” Quatraro said. “It’s improving, it’s just not completely resolved.”

Yankees: Boone didn't rule out a return this season for infielder DJ LeMahieu (right hip impingement), but also said he wouldn't count on it, either.

UP NEXT

All-Star LHP Cole Ragans (11-9, 3.33 ERA) starts for Kansas City against rookie RHP Luis Gil (13-6, 3.24) in the rubber match of the three-game series Wednesday night.

The first Royals lefty with 200 strikeouts in a season, Ragans pitched six shutout innings to beat Minnesota last Friday night. Gil returned that day from a lower back strain that landed him on the injured list and threw six innings of one-hit ball in a 3-0 win over the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field.

How can I watch Kansas City Royals vs. New York Yankees?
  • TV Channel: Royals at Yankees 2022 MLB Baseball, is broadcasted on MLB.TV.
  • Online streaming: Sign up for Fubo.

Matchup Prediction

Yankees: 56.9%
Royals: 43.1%
*According to ESPN's Basketball Power Index

Scoring Summary

9th Inning Judge flied out to right.
9th Inning Soto struck out swinging.
9th Inning Torres struck out looking.
9th Inning Schreiber relieved Bubic
9th Inning Hampson in center field.
9th Inning Witt Jr. grounded out to second.

Statistics

https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/mlb/500/kc.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originKC https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/mlb/500/nyy.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originNYY
1 Games Played 1
1 Team Games Played 1
0 Hit By Pitch 0
13 Ground Balls 6
8 Strikeouts 14
5 Runs Batted In 0
0 Sacrifice Hit 0
11 Hits 3
3 Stolen Bases 0
2 Walks 0
1 Catcher Interference 0
5 Runs 0
1 Ground Into Double Play 0
1 Sacrifice Flies 0
34 At Bats 30
1 Home Runs 0
0 Grand Slam Home Runs 0
17 Runners Left On Base 6
0 Triples 0
1 Game Winning RBIs 0
0 Intentional Walks 0
0 Doubles 0
14 Fly Balls 10
1 Caught Stealing 0
146 Pitches 135
0 Games Started 0
1 Pinch At Bats 0
0 Pinch Hits 0
0.0 Player Rating 0.0
1 Is Qualified 1
1 Is Qualified In Steals 0
14 Total Bases 3
38 Plate Appearances 30
162.0 Projected Home Runs 0.0
1 Extra Base Hits 0
5.0 Runs Created -1.3
.324 Batting Average .100
.000 Pinch Hit Average .000
.412 Slugging Percentage .100
.206 Secondary Average .000
.351 On Base Percentage .100
.763 OBP Pct + SLG Pct .200
0.9 Ground To Fly Ball Ratio 0.6
5.2 Runs Created Per 27 Outs -1.3
37.0 Batter Rating 3.0
34.0 At Bats Per Home Run 0.0
0.75 Stolen Base Percentage 0.00
3.84 Pitches Per Plate Appearance 4.50
.088 Isolated Power .000
0.25 Walk To Strikeout Ratio 0.00
.053 Walks Per Plate Appearance .000
-.118 Secondary Average Minus Batting Average -.100
10.0 Runs Produced 0.0
1.0 Runs Ratio 0.0
0.4 Patience Ratio 0.1
0.4 Balls In Play Average 0.2
87.5 MLB Rating 54.8
0.0 Offensive Wins Above Replacement 0.0
0.0 Wins Above Replacement 0.0

Game Information

Yankee Stadium

Location: Bronx, New York
Attendance: 34,485 | Capacity:

2024 American League Central Standings

TEAM W L PCT GB STRK
Cleveland 92 69 .571 - L2
Kansas City 86 76 .531 6.5 W1
Detroit 86 76 .531 6.5 L2
Minnesota 82 80 .506 10.5 L4
Chicago 41 121 .253 51.5 W2

2024 American League East Standings

TEAM W L PCT GB STRK
New York 94 68 .580 - W1
Baltimore 91 71 .562 3 W3
Boston 81 81 .500 13 W1
Tampa Bay 80 82 .494 14 L1
Toronto 74 88 .457 20 L3
Full Standings