KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Yankees started the second month of the season the way they finished the first. And they ended the first day of May with the best record in baseball after rallying to beat the Royals, 6-4, at Kauffman Stadium on Sunday.
The Yankees (16-6) swept the Royals (7-13) and have won a season-high nine straight games, the longest winning streak in the majors this season. They have swept their last three series and moved past the Mets for the best record in baseball.
“I think the good thing is we’re doing a lot of things well to allow us to win games and we’re winning games in different ways,” Yankees manager Aaron Boon said. “And we’re getting a lot of contributions from everyone. I feel like all 28 guys really are contributing through this first month and that’s been really good. Good to see everyone’s been involved; starting pitching the relief pitching and defense, baserunning offense, it’s been different ways. We’ve been able to win games and that’s something that we’ve really put a focus on and it’s good to see the guys get results for the most part.
“I’d say this even if we’re struggling or whatever, but it’s certainly a marathon. We gotta keep improving, and keep working,” Boone continued. “But certainly the record was very encouraging.”
Perhaps most encouraging was seeing Aaron Judge start to heat up. He started the game Sunday with an enormous home run and ended it with another. It was his 18th multi-home run game of his career and the second of the season. The 18 multi-homer games ties Bernie Williams for 12th in Yankee history.
Judge is among the league leaders with eight home runs, one shy of the major league-leader Anthony Rizzo.
Judge crushed a ball 453-feet high off the scoreboard in the first inning. His second, in the top of the ninth, traveled 395 feet over the right-field fence.
After Judge gave him a lead, Luis Severino gave it — and more — back in the third, hanging a fastball to Michael A. Taylor for a solo home run. The Royals' second run came on a Severino wild pitch. Carlos Santana doubled in the third run of the inning. They brought in the fourth run on a Josh Donaldson throwing error, trying to get a runner at second on Cam Gallagher’s bunt.
The Yankees began chipping away in the fifth with Miguel Andujar, making his first start since being called up on Tuesday, singling. Isiah Kiner-Falefa doubled him home. Kiner-Falefa, who extended his on-base streak to 13 straight games, scored on DJ LeMahieu’s single.
In the fifth, Judge tied it with a bases-loaded, check-swing single. The Yankees took the lead on Donaldson’s fielder’s choice because Nicky Lopez’s throw home was too late.
Severino didn’t have much command Sunday and the Royals jumped on his mistakes. He allowed four runs, three earned, on seven hits. He walked one and struck out four. The right-hander’s velocity was solid, but he battled his fastball for control.
He finished with a strong fifth inning and the bullpen held it up for him. Clarke Schmidt, who hadn’t pitched in 11 days, pitched a scoreless inning, Michael King threw a perfect 1 2/3 innings, Lucas Luetge got an out and Aroldis Chapman closed it out for his 150th save in a Yankee uniform.
