Bats remain hot as Yankees roll over Royals
Dominant pitching? Check.
Potent offense? Check.
Solid defense? Check.
In the rubber matchup between New York and Kansas City, the Yankees came out on top this afternoon, taking two of three from the Royals. Similar to last night's ballgame in which the Bombers' offense broke out for eight runs, the Yankee lineup exploded once again which resulted in a 10-1 victory.
As the YES Network previously mentioned, the Yankees have won eight straight series for the first time since 1998. Remember how that season ended? Just saying.
Sonny Gray looked like the pitcher he was in 2015 for Oakland, when the righty was named a finalist for the AL Cy Young award. Number 55 gave his squad plenty of length in his latest outing as he hurled eight innings of one-run ball. Gray cruised through the first seven frames before running into a bit of trouble in his last, but was able to strike his final hitter out to and remain under one-hundred pitches on the day.
The 28-year-old lowered his ERA to 5.48 as a result from his masterful performance.
Gray's final line: 8.0 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, 92 pitches, 62 strikes.
There was no shortage of power from the Bronx Bombers today as they belted a total of four home runs in addition to two doubles and two triples.
Tyler Austin was responsible for two long balls, hitting one in the fourth and the other an inning later. Austin's blast in the fifth gave his squad a commanding 6-o lead over the Royals past the midway point of the game.
The next pair of dingers occurred in the ninth as Miguel Andújar and Austin Romine went back-to-back, belly-to-belly. Romine's homer capped off the scoring and the Yankees finished with ten runs on the day.
Aaron Hicks has been on fire ever since fellow outfielder Clint Frazier was recalled. Hicks certainly does not want to lose his starting job after recording a two hit, one RBI performance.
One day removed from picking up his second inside-the-park home run on the season, Hicks recorded another impressive extra base hit in the form of a triple.
Having Frazier ride the bench is not ideal but with the way Hicks has swung the bat lately, it is virtually impossible to remove him from the lineup.
HIGHLIGHTS
Tyler Austin's first homer on the day, a blast that gave the Yankees a 2-0 lead in the 4th.
https://twitter.com/YESNetwork/status/998278757818380288
Stone Cold Austin's second drive of the afternoon, increasing the lead to six runs.
https://twitter.com/YESNetwork/status/998283620300148736
To conclude this recap on a high-note, here's AJ Cole's final pitch which sealed both the game and series win for the Yankees.
https://twitter.com/YESNetwork/status/998304624481206272
RECORD
30-13, tied for first place with Boston.
UP NEXT
Tomorrow at Texas: 8:05 PM ET
Masahiro Tanaka (4-2, 4.73 ERA) vs. Bartolo Colon (2-1, 2.82 ERA)