Bronx, NY: Bronx, NY: The Yankees 6-1 opening game loss of a four game series to the Kansas City Royals in the Bronx Thursday night would be difficult to understand. After all this team had momentum going in this series after a brief two game sweep over the world champion Boston Red Sox.
There was no momentum this night. The Royals hit two home run balls, both off Yankees starter Domingo German. The Yankees were stopped and tied a season low in runs a third time and recorded 4-hits.
“Just not quite as sharp, a couple that turned into home runs,” said Yankees manager Aaron Boone about German who took his first loss of the season. “He (German) was able to keep us in the game enough without his best stuff,” Boone said.
German tossed 6.0 innings and the Royals went after his fastball . Jorge Soler in the Royals’ second inning hit a long shot down the left field line on a 1-1 pitch. It was his first career home run at Yankee Stadium, his fourth home run in his last nine games. That run would keep the Royals’ ahead for good.
“Anytime we come and lose it’s always frustrating,” Boone said about his team. “Tonight we just got shut down .”
Soler, the 27-year old six-year player, from Havana Cuba, has a role in the Kansas City Lineup. Last season at the plate he hit for average, 265 in 61 games. He knocked in 28 runs. Most of all the RBI production came in situations for a Kansas City team that finished last in their division.
On the home run ball in the Bronx, he said through an interpreter, “ It’s a good feeling. He (German) was throwing strikes in the zone and i went with the pitch. This was a win the way the Royals can do it.”
And home run production wasn’t the lone reason for this Royals win. They pitched and credit right-hander Home Bailey. In his first road start of the season, Bailey threw six innings and allowed 3-hits and struck out six. The pen took over and threw 3.0 shutout innings.
It’s the Yankees failure again to score runs with this makeshift lineup. But the Royals, not expected to be playing baseball in October, played the complete game.
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