KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Austin Romine and Cameron Maybin each drove in two in New York’s five-run second inning, and the Yankees held on to beat the Kansas City Royals 6-5 Saturday night, completing a sweep of a doubleheader for their seventh straight win.
Romine finished with three hits and Maybin also had an RBI single in the third as won both games after severe thunderstorms postponed Friday night’s contest.
Luke Voit hit a go-ahead home in the seventh inning and Thairo Estrada added a two-run double in the eighth inning of the opener to power the Yankees to a 7-3 victory.
Chance Adams threw four innings to earn his first major league victory in the second game after Chad Green threw one inning as the Yankees’ opener. Adams allowed three runs and five hits, with a couple of misplayed balls in the outfield leading to two runs in the fourth inning.
Jonathan Holder, Tommy Kahnle, Zach Britton and Aroldis Chapman each threw one inning in relief to close out the win. Chapman allowed a run on a walk, error and sacrifice fly, but was still able to notch his 250th career save, and 14th this season.
The Yankees jumped all over Royals starter Jorge Lopez (0-6) in the second inning. The first seven batters all reached base, scoring five runs along the way. DJ LeMahieu capped the scoring in the inning with an RBI single, chasing Lopez from the game after facing just 10 batters.
The Royals’ bullpen held the Yankees down after the big second inning, allowing one run and four hits in seven innings of work. New York didn’t score again after Maybin’s hit in the third made it 6-1.
Hunter Dozier doubled twice after going hitless in the opener, driving in Adalberto Mondesi in the first inning and coming around to score on Jorge Soler’s double in the fourth inning.
J.A. Happ (4-3) threw six strong innings in the opener, striking out 10. He allowed only a single hit until a familiar problem showed up in the sixth when Whit Merrifield hit a tying, three-run homer. It was the 14th homer Happ has allowed, tied for second most in the majors.
But unlike past home runs, Happ threw a good pitch, and Merrifield simply put a good swing on the ball.
“You tip your cap. He hit a ball at his shoulders,” Happ said.
Yankees manager Aaron Boone won’t let one swing take away from Happ’s effort.
“It was a dominating effort,” he said. “He had swings and misses all day on the fastball. I thought he was just locked in from a focus standpoint, getting the ball and executing pitches all day long.”
Voit quickly restored the Yankees’ lead when he connected off Scott Barlow (1-1) for a 470-foot home run and New York’s bullpen closed out the win.
“It doesn’t matter if I’m hitting, Gary (Sanchez), Gleyber (Torres), whoever. Everybody calls us the Baby Bombers, so I feel like someone will hit a home run or get a big hit,” Voit said.
Voit grew up near St. Louis, was drafted by the Royals out of high school, went to Missouri State and made his major league debut with the Cardinals.
“To hit the farthest home run I’ve probably ever hit in front of them is pretty surreal,” Voit said.
Mondesi stole his major league-best 18th base in the opener.
Barlow had his second straight shaky outing for the Royals. His ERA sat at 2.01 after a scoreless outing against the Los Angeles Angels on Sunday, but got tagged for four runs in 1 2/3 innings on Wednesday in St. Louis and gave up four more runs Saturday in 1 1/3 innings.
“We gave up six runs on three hanging sliders today and Barlow threw two of them,” Royals manager Ned Yost said.
CONSECUTIVE TWINBILLS
The Royals were back in action for the first time since playing a doubleheader against St. Louis on Wednesday, which also was caused by stormy weather. Kansas City is playing consecutive doubleheaders for just the eighth time in franchise history, and first time since August 13-14, 1983. It’s just the second time Kansas City has played consecutive doubleheaders against two different opponents, the other time occurring on April 19 and 22, 1972, against Oakland and the Chicago White Sox.
ROSTER MOVES
Royals: Kansas City recalled LHP Brian Flynn from Triple-A Omaha and optioned RHP Richard Lovelady. Lovelady remained with the team as the 26th player for the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader. Flynn hasn’t pitched yet this season after spraining the UCL in his throwing arm late in spring training. The 29-year-old lefty appeared in six games for Omaha, allowing 10 runs in 22 2/3 innings pitched. He had a 2-2 record with a 3.57 ERA.
Yankees: Chance Adams was recalled Saturday to serve as New York’s 26th player in Game 2 of the doubleheader.
UP NEXT
The Royals and Yankees will close out their three-game set on Sunday. LHP Danny Duffy (3-1) will get the start for Kansas City looking for his fourth straight win. RHP Domingo German (9-1) will pitch for New York, seeking his major league-best 10th win.
