The Kansas City Royals avoided a series sweep on Sunday with a 8-6 come-from-behind win on the road against the New York Yankees, with a pair of late home runs turning the tide.
Both starting pitchers finished with mediocre figures, but they were both spotless early, holding the game scoreless through the first four innings. The fifth inning was a different story, with the sides combining for seven runs.
The Royals struck first as Nick Pratto came through with a two-run, bases loaded single, before Maikel Garcia followed him with an RBI double, and they capped off a four-run frame with an RBI groundout from Whit Merrifield.
But the best team in baseball this season answered right back, with Kyle Higashioka batting in a run with his single, before D.J. LeMahieu brought him home with a homer to the short porch at right-field.
Later in the seventh inning, with Aaron Judge and Aaron Hicks on base, Anthony Rizzo shot the Yankees into a 6-4 lead with the longest hit in the game up to that point, a 418-foot home run over the right-field wall.
Kansas City's Hunter Dozier topped that the next inning with a 420-foot shot to left-field, trimming the margin to 6-5 and setting up an exciting finish.
Needing three outs to secure the win, the Yankees brought in elite relief pitcher Clay Holmes for the save, but it did not go to plan.
Holmes got the first out, but then issued a five-pitch walk to Merrifield, before hitting Bobby Witt Jr with a pitch to put runners on first and second with Salvador Perez at the plate.
Perez had been swinging a hot bat as of late with three home runs in his past seven games, and he added one more with a monstrous 441-foot nuke to center-field, jumping ahead 8-6 in the final frame.
Instead of handing the ball to a new closer, the Royals let Taylor Clarke head back out for his second inning to finish the job.
Yankees superstar Aaron Judge finished hit-less, but he contributed with two walks and a run.
The win is only the Royals' second from their past 12 meetings with the Yankees.
Austin Riley walks it off for the Braves
A quality pitching duel broke out in the Atlanta Braves' 1-0 win against the Arizona Diamondbacks, with Austin Riley batting home the first run of the game in the bottom of the ninth inning.
Braves ace pitcher Max Fried allowed four hits and two walks with five strikeouts in his seven scoreless innings, while Arizona's Merrill Kelly was slightly better, conceding three hits and two walks to go with eight strikeouts over the same stretch of innings.
The Braves had five hits in the game, and two of them were by Riley, who has quickly established himself as a realistic NL MVP candidate.
Riley is fourth in the league in home runs (29), and second in total bases (239) – trailing only Aaron Judge.
Alvarez plays the hero in Houston
Speaking of players having unbelievable under-the-radar seasons, Houston Astros star Yordan Alvarez continued what is arguably the best hitting season in the majors with the winner in his side's 3-2 victory against the Seattle Mariners.
He went zero-for-four in regulation, but with scores tied in extra innings he came through with a clutch hit to drive in the winning run.
Alvarez leads the league in on-base percentage (.417) and trails only Judge in slugging percentage (.670 compared to Judge's .671).
New York Yankees designate struggling OF Aaron Hicks for assignment
The New York Yankees have decided to cut ties with struggling outfielder Aaron Hicks.
The Yankees designated Hicks for assignment on Saturday before their game against the Cincinnati Reds.
Through 28 games this season, Hicks is slashing just .188/.263/.261 with one home run, two doubles and five RBIS.
Among the 315 major league hitters with at least 75 plate appearances, Hicks' .524 OPS ranks 299th.
It is a costly decision for the Yankees, as Hicks' contract runs through 2025 and the team will be forced to eat nearly $30million remaining on the seven-year, $70m contract he signed in 2019.
The sides agreed to that deal after Hicks enjoyed a career year in 2018, when he hit 27 homers and drove in 79.
In almost four-and-a-half seasons since then, however, the 33-year-old Hicks has managed just 31 home runs while batting .218.
In a corresponding move Saturday, the Yankees selected the contract of outfielder Greg Allen from the minors.
The 30-year-old Allen was acquired in a trade from the Boston Red Sox on Friday and is beginning his second stint with the Yankees after appearing in 15 games for them in 2021.
Astros activate star 2B Altuve for season debut
Jose Altuve will return to the Houston Astros’ lineup for Friday’s game against the Oakland Athletics after the team activated the 2017 American League Most Valuable Player from the injured list.
Altuve has yet to play this season due to a fractured right thumb he sustained while playing for his native Venezuela in the World Baseball Classic on March 19. He underwent surgery on March 22 and was given an eight-week timeline to return.
The eight-time All-Star prepped for his 2023 debut by playing five minor league rehab games over the past week, though he went just 2 for 22 at the plate.
Altuve finished fifth in voting for last season’s AL MVP after finishing with a .300 average, 28 home runs, 103 runs scored and 18 stolen bases in 141 games for the World Series champion Astros.
The 33-year-old’s career .307 batting average ranks third among active players with at least 1,000 plate appearances, trailing only 2022 AL batting champ Luis Arraez and fellow Venezuelan Miguel Cabrera.
Altuve will be counted on to provide a spark to a Houston offense that’s averaging just 4.44 runs per game, 15th in the majors. The Astros currently stand two games behind division-leading Texas in the AL West with a 24-19 record.
Rays pound Cease as Paredes drives in career-high five, Ohtani falls short on cycle bid
The Tampa Bay Rays re-discovered their free-scoring ways as Isaac Paredes managed a career-high five RBIs in a 14-5 victory over the slumping Chicago White Sox on Thursday.
The Sox fall to their eighth straight loss, even with Dylan Cease on the mound, pounded for seven runs from nine hits across four innings, with only three strikeouts.
Paredes started it off with a second-inning RBI single, grounded out to third to score Randy Arozarena in the fifth, before a three-run double in the sixth opened up an 11-2 lead.
Brandon Lowe maintained his excellent early season hitting with a 358-foot third inning homer along with a two-run single in the fifth. Lowe's solo shot took his season tally to seven homers.
Shane McClanahan (5-0) allowed two runs and struck out five across five innings, while Luke Raley went three-for-five with three RBIs including a ninth-inning homer, and moved from the outfield to the mound in the ninth.
The Rays, who started the season 13-0, had been beaten and shut out in consecutive games by the Houston Astros, 1-0 and 5-0 on Wednesday and Tuesday respectively.
Tampa Bay delivered 16 hits for the game and ended their scoreless run at 20 innings.
Ohtani's mixed game as Angels edge home
Shohei Ohtani responded after a shaky start on the mound to lead the Los Angeles Angels past the Oakland Athletics 8-7.
Ohtani (4-0) earned the win, although he gave up five runs in a rough fourth inning, with three-run blasts to Brent Rooker and a two-run homer to Shea Langeliers. He had thrown three perfect innings to that point and finished with eight strikeouts, allowing three hits across six innings.
The Japanese two-way star went three-for-five with the bat, including a triple, double and single, scoring two runs, with an eighth-inning shot caught by Esteury Ruiz on the warning track in center field.
Brandon Drury delivered a 409-foot three-run home run over left-center field in the first inning, with Ohtani scoring after his prior double.
Keller fans 10 as Pirates continue fine form
Mitch Keller matched his career-high 10 strikeouts as the Pittsburgh Pirates downed the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-2.
Keller improved to 3-0, giving up two runs on five hits across six innings, as the Pirates continued their excellent run having won nine of their past 10, moving to an 18-8 record.
Pittsburgh rallied from an early 2-0 deficit, with three runs at the bottom of the first inning, before Connor Joe's two-run blast followed by Rodolfo Castro's 414-foot homer in the sixth.
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