ALDS: Royals Even Series with Yankees

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October 7, 2024

Royals 4, Yankees 2

On Monday, the Kansas City Royals knocked off the New York Yankees to tie the series after a pivotal fourth inning. Going back to Kauffman Stadium, the Royals will try to have the home crowd electrified against the Yankees. For the Bronx Bombers, they struggled to plate runs, and double plays haunted their chances. They will travel on the road for their Game Three clash against the Royals on Wednesday.

Royals – Yankees Game Summary

Going into Game Two, the Royals looked to bounce back from a Game One defeat before heading home to Kansas City. The game stayed tied until Giancarlo Stanton bulleted a ground ball that tipped past the glove of Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. in the third inning. Gleyber Torres scored from second, giving the Yankees an early lead. However, the next inning, the Royals found their bats. Salvador Perez hit a solo home run to tie the game. Tommy Pham slapped a single, scoring Yuli Gurriel to take the lead. Garrett Hampson singled to score Pham. Their last RBI single came from Maikel Garcia, who slapped a single into right field. The Yankees didn’t respond until Jazz Chisholm Jr led off the ninth inning with a home run to complete the scoring.

Salvy answers right back to tie it for the @Royals! #ALDS pic.twitter.com/0PZNsBxIS9

— MLB (@MLB) October 8, 2024

What Went Right for the Yankees

Bullpen

Although Yankees skipper Aaron Boone rotated seven different relievers into the game, the bullpen allowed zero earned runs, trying to give the Yankees a possibility to come back into the game.

What Went Wrong for the Yankees

Rodon’s Fourth Inning

Carlos Rodon cruised through the first three innings, allowing two hits with five strikeouts. In the fourth, Rodon’s stuff got caught. He allowed four hits, and allowed all four earned runs. A strong home pitcher, he lost it after cruising through the first three.

Top of the Lineup

Gleyber Torres, Juan Soto, and Aaron Judge make for a brutal top of the lineup that has shouldered lots of the load for the Yankees this year. Monday, they earned five walks, but only one hit. In tough situations, your top guys have to get it, and it wasn’t their best tonight.

What Went Right for the Royals

Fourth Inning

It was a total showcase for the Royals in the fourth inning. Five hits in the fourth from top down of the lineup helped bolster them to tie the series. It showed an amazing ability to find their way around the field.

The @Royals tack on a FOURTH run! #ALDS pic.twitter.com/lA7jzlD29c

— MLB (@MLB) October 8, 2024

Pitching

It’s always good only allowing two earned runs across the game. That’s the case for the Royals after Cole Ragans allowed one earned across four innings and five strikeouts. The Royals didn’t allow the second earned run until the ninth inning. The middle relief showed their best today.

What Went Wrong for the Royals

Eight Scoreless

It’s great that the Royals exploded in the fourth, but you can point to eight scoreless innings as a weak point. An offense looks to bounce through all nine innings, and the Royals will look to find that explosiveness throughout multiple innings.

Quick Hits

The Yankees are 3–1 in Kauffman Stadium in the 2024 regular season. The Royals will enter their home ball park for the first time in the 2024 postseason.

The Yankees had the best road record in baseball this season, going 50-31 on the road.

Looking Ahead

For Game Three, the Royals will hand the ball to a player not yet announced, while the Yankees will go to Clarke Schmidt (5-5, 2.85 ERA) at Kauffman Stadium. Game Three will be crucial for both teams, as a win will give them two chances to close the best-of-five series out.

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