KANSAS CITY, Mo. – After taking a break from Saturday’s lineup, Aaron Judge picked up where he left off Sunday at Kauffman Stadium.
In his first at bat, Judge smashed a solo home run to center field.
And in his final at-bat, the Yankees slugger hit another solo homer over the right field wall, adding the sure run in a 6-4 victory against the Kansas City Royals.
That’s nine straight wins for the Yankees (16-6) as they advance to Toronto for a three-game series against the second-place Blue Jays.
“We’re doing a lot of things to allow us to win games in different ways,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said before his team completed its third straight series. “And we’re getting a lot of contributions from everyone.”
Judge has now homered five times in his last five games and seven times in his last eight games, and has hit bats in 10 of his last 11 games.
Yankees starter Luis Severino wasn’t ready Sunday (5 IP, 3 ER), but he retired the last six batters he faced to keep his team afloat.
The Yanks scored twice in the fifth and twice in the seventh to take a 5-4 lead, while Michael King stifled a Royals (7-13) rally by driving Salvador Perez into a double-play groundout to finish seventh.
King’s impressive early start to 2022 continued with a scoreless eighth before Aroldis Chapman closed out his sixth save in six attempts this year.
“This is early in this marathon, we have to keep improving, keep working,” Boone said. “But in terms of records, certainly very encouraged” by the start of the club.
Joey Gallo Update
The status of southpaw Joey Gallo remained up in the air on Sunday, after being eliminated from saturday night game due to strain in the left groin.
Although Gallo “felt pretty good” on Saturday night, “right now he’s day to day,” Boone said. “We’ll see where he is as he goes through treatment.”
Boone had no intention of playing Gallo on Sunday, no matter how good he felt.
The question is whether Gallo will be available for any or all of the upcoming series in Toronto, on the artificial turf at Rogers Center.
Gallo felt discomfort running toward second base during the fourth inning of Saturday’s 3-0 win at Kauffman Stadium.
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Afterward, the slugging left fielder said he wasn’t worried about his game at all. “He wanted to keep playing (Saturday),” Gallo said. “But the smart move was not to make it worse.”
In Gallo’s place, Miguel Andujar made his first start of the season, going 2-for-4 with two singles out of left field.
potential moves
Still, Andujar is a candidate to return to Class AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, along with right-hander Clarke Schmidt.
MLB rosters return to 26 players Monday from 28, after being expanded due to shorter spring training caused by the MLB lockout.
Schmidt pitched a scoreless sixth inning Sunday in relief of Severino, and the right-hander has been effective in four starts so far.
But the Yankees likely want to keep Schmidt in Scranton’s rotation longer; they may need a sixth starter based on the schedule later this month.
According to Boone, Domingo Germán (shoulder) is back to pitching off a mound in Tampa, Fla., after recently throwing a 30-pitch session out of the bullpen with fastballs and changeups.
Also in Tampa, left-handed catcher Ben Rortvedt (oblique) has resumed batting practice on the field and is closing in on live at-bats and game appearances.
Pete Caldera is the Yankees rhythm writer for NorthJersey.com. For unlimited access to all Yankees analysis, news, trades and more, sign up today and download our app.
Email: [email protected] Twitter: @pcaldera
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