Kansas City scored 2 runs off Clay Holmes in the bottom of the 9th with 2 outs to walk off the win, 4-3 on a Thursday afternoon in Kansas City.
Drew Waters made the play of the 9th inning, diving into 1st to just beat out a slow roller that Anthony Rizzo fielded and tossed to Holmes covering 1st. Holmes got the 2nd out on a nifty play at 2nd by Gleyber Torres, and was a strike away from a Yankee win to next batter Kyle Isbel, but he laced a single into center and Maikel Garcia doubled into the left field corner for the ballgame.
The loss ruined a late-inning comeback by the Yanks, who had been no-hit for 6 innings and shutout for 7 by Alec Marsh, but scored 3 in the 8th off the Royal bullpen — touched off by a homerun by Anthony Rizzo, a game-tying RBI groundout by Anthony Volpe, and a clutch, 2-out go-ahead RBI single by Juan Soto.
“Really good at bat by (Isbel),” said manager Aaron Boone afterwards. “That’s kind of the at bat of the inning right there. Was able to work the 3-2 and just put it in play through the middle of the diamond. (Clay) gets a little pop out, and the chopper is in no-man’s land, where they get a baserunner. Good at bat by Isbel to set them up and Garcia got him down the line. I thought he threw the ball well.”
NY falls to 49-22, and stays 2.5 ahead of Baltimore which lost to Atlanta. KC improves to 40-30, salvaging 1 game of the 4-game set, of which the Yanks won the first 3 games.
1. Cortes Good
Good news for the Yanks: Nestor Cortes pitched well — 7 innings of 6-hit baseball, allowing 2 runs.
The only runs Cortes gave up came in the 4th when Maikel Garcia led off with a walk, Bobby Witt Jr.singled, and Vinnie Pasquantino doubled them both home. Cortes got the next 3 outs of the inning to strand Pasquantino at 2nd. Other than that, Nestor was in control through 7 strong innings.
“It was a good pitcher’s duel,” said manager Aaron Boone afterwards about Nestor. “His fastball was pointing up — I thought he was 92-93 a lot but it had something on it; he had a presence on both sides. He did a good job like Marsh of mixing. Gave us 7 strong out there.”
2. Marsh Better
Alec Marsh meanwhile had a no-hitter going through 6 innings. Juan Soto broke it up with a single leading off the 7th, but Marsh struck out the next 2 batters and got a fly out to end the inning.
His line: 7 innings, 1 hit, 0 runs, 7 K’s, 2 walks.
“He was a little unpredictable. He mixed well — seemed he had a 5-pitch mix going; 4- and 2-seam, showed us come curveball, good changeup for the lefties, and the slider — and was ‘on’.”
3. Yanks Rally for 3 in 8th
KC brought in reliever John Schreiber for the 8th and the Yankees Pounced. Anthony Rizzo led off the inning with a homer to right and it was a 2-1 game.
Rizzo Rocket ?#TeamRizzo pic.twitter.com/3KHmiZLdT2
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) June 13, 2024
Austin Wells got on due to a 1-out error by 2nd baseman Garrett Hampson, and was pinch-run for by Jahmai Jones. Trent Grisham singled to right putting runners on the corners. Anthony Volpe grounded out to 3rd scoring Jones to tie the game 2-2.
Brand new ballgame ? pic.twitter.com/xeFtKQYjy7
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) June 13, 2024
Lefty Angel Zerpa came in to pitch to the lefty Juan Soto, and Soto got a clutch single to right for a 3-2 NY lead.
He is the Juan who knocks. pic.twitter.com/v6uefY19uC
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) June 13, 2024
4. Weaver Sets It Up Well
Luke Weaver pitched the 8th for the Yanks — allowing 2 walks with 1 out to ramp up the pressure — but got a fly out and then a strikeout of Nelson Velazquez with a 3-2 pitch just at the knees.
The Silent Assassin. pic.twitter.com/3Z2mS1cGcl
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) June 13, 2024
5. KC Wins It in 9th
But KC’s comeback in the 9th erased the Yankee comeback. The big play was the infield single by Waters. and Isbel working the count to 3-2, taking a couple of pitches that just missed being strikes.
Be the first to comment