Yankees Sweep Royals

Let's see, which analogy should I use for the series the Yankees just swept?

* The Yankees barbecued Kansas City.

* The Yankees crowned the Royals.

* The last time Royals got embarrassed this much, King Charles III stripped his brother Andrew of all his titles and privileges.

Anyway...

The Yankees played the Royals in Kansas City, at Kauffman Stadium, formerly known as Royals Stadium, site of 4 American League Championship Series between the teams when I was a kid, with the Yankees winning in 1976, '77 and '78, and the Royals winning in 1980. Since then, despite a close call in 1985, the teams have only met in the postseason once, with the Yankees winning in the 2024 AL Division Series.

On Monday night, Will Warren started, and allowed just 2 runs over 6 innings. But he didn't get the win, because it was tied 2-2 when he left. Cody Bellinger hit a home run. And in the bottom of the 8th, Bobby Witt Jr., the other guy contending with Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani for the title of "best player in baseball," hit a home run off Jake Bird, to make it 3-2 Royals.

I have yet to have a reasonable explanation for why Bird is pitching in the major leagues.

And when Bellinger grounded out to lead off the top of the 9th, it looked like this game was lost. But Paul Goldschmidt singled. Max Schuemann was sent in to pinch-run for him. Jazz Chisholm doubled, but even Schuemann wasn't fast enough to score on the play, and held at 3rd base. But the much-maligned Anthony Volpe singled both runs home. He was thrown out trying to stretch it into a double, but both runs had scored and were counted.

Tim Hill had been the last Yankee pitcher, so when David Bednar got the save, Hill was named the winning pitcher, even though he only faced 2 batters. Yankees 4, Royals 3.

*

Cam Schlittler took the mound on Tuesday night, and was brilliant. He went 6 innings, allowing only 1 run on 4 hits, no walks (I love saying that about a Yankee pitcher), and 6 strikeouts.

Unlike Warren, he got support, so there was absolutely no reason to leave him in longer than that. The Yankees scored 4 runs in the 1st inning, 1 in the 2nd, 4 in the 3rd, none in the 4th, and 1 in the 5th. That linescore, 41401? It's not in use as a ZIP Code, but if it were, it would be in Morgan County in very Appalachian eastern Kentucky -- the kind of place that says it hates its Republican Senators, but always seems to re-elect them.

The Royals' starting pitcher was Bailey Falter, and he did indeed falter, allowing 7 runs over 2 1/3rd innings. For the 1st time in their 124-season history, all 9 Yankee starting batters got at least 2 hits. The Yankees got 2 homers from Amed Rosario, and 1 each from Bellinger, Volpe, Chisholm and Trent Grisham. Rosario went 4-for-6 with 4 RBIs, Grisham went 3-for-7 with 2 RBIs, and Bellinger went 2-for-5 with 3 RBIs.

Ryan Yarbrough pitched shutout ball for the last 3 innings, getting in some good work, albeit with no pressure whatsoever. Yankees 15, Royals 1.

*

On Wednesday night, Gerrit Cole made his injury-delayed 2nd start of the season. He went 6 2/3rds innings, throwing 79 pitches, 59 of them for strikes. He allowed 4 hits and no walks, and struck out 10. Clearly, he's ready.

Goldschmidt led off the top of the 4th with a single, followed by a triple by Ben Rice and a sacrifice fly by Judge. The Yankees broke it open in the 7th, with 3 singles and a walk, 1 of them with the bases loaded, extending their lead to 5-0. A Grisham walk and a Ryan McMahon home run in the 8th extended the lead. Fernando Cruz and Camilo Doval completed the 4-hit shutout. Yankees 7, Royals 0.

Three games, three wins, aggregate score of 26-4.

*

We are now more than one-third of the way through the regular season. The Yankees are 34-22, on a pace to go 98-64. However, we're a game and a half behind the Toronto Blue Jays in the AL Eastern division, 3 games back in the all-important loss column. At this point, no other team in the Division is close.

If the Yankees can just do well until Giancarlo Stanton comes back from injury, the attack will be fine. 

Title 28 will look more possible. At last check, he was cleared to start running, Jasson Domínguez may start taking live batting practice next week, Clarke Schmidt is throwing bullpen sessions, and Max Fried is "playing catch."

They continue their roadtrip tonight, in West Sacramento against the Athletics. A recent report shows that their Las Vegas ballpark is coming along well, and should open on time in April 2028.