Royals make standout defensive plays, still lose to Yankees for 7th straight time
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Yankees scored five in second inning, extended win streak vs. Royals to seven
- Royals flashed elite defense, including Garcia's crucial 5-4-3 double play
- Kansas City's offense remained stagnant, collecting only eight total hits
Kansas City Royals fans didn’t have much to cheer about Wednesday. The New York Yankees broke out the lumber again in a 6-3 victory at Kauffman Stadium.
And the Royals’ bats? Well, they were quiet again ... until the ninth inning. Royals captain Salvador Perez hit a two-run homer off Yankees reliever Mark Leiter Jr. as part of a last-gasp attempt at a rally.
But it was too little, too late.
In all, the Royals logged eight hits Wednesday. The Yankees, meanwhile, scored the majority of their runs during a five-run second inning: One day after beating KC 10-2, New York batted around and four Yankees drove in runs.
“We haven’t scored enough and we haven’t suppressed runs enough,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said. “We have been beaten on both sides of the ball.”
The Royals (34-34) have now lost 10 of their last 13 at home. The Yankees (41-25) have won their last seven meetings with the Royals (including the postseason).
Despite their ongoing struggles at the plate this year, the Royals keep playing excellent defense. They turned in some dazzling plays Wednesday, too.
So, let’s focus on the leather.
In the fifth inning, the Royals were staring at another blowout loss. The Yankees had loaded the bases against right-handed reliever Jonathan Bowlan.
New York drew two walks in the inning and Anthony Volpe knocked a double down the right-field line. The Royals trailed by five runs as Yankees infielder DJ LeMahieu came to the plate.
Bowlan threw LeMahieu five pitches. One was an 80.7 mph curveball on the inside corner of the plate, which LeMahieu smoked to third baseman Maikel Garcia.
Garcia caught in the 100.4 mph line drive. He backpedaled, made the catch and fell to the ground, but not before firing a strike to second base. Second baseman Jonathan India was waiting to receive the throw, step on the bag for one out and hurl the baseball to first for another.
“I just closed my eyes, put the glove there and made a play,” Garcia said.
It wasn’t quite that simple, of course. Garcia went on to explain what occurred during the thrilling sequence.
“I was playing halfway and he hit the ball hard,” he said. “I was trying to make a play for the pitcher. It’s what I did.”
The Royals had turned a a 5-4-3 double play. That got Bowlan out of trouble and prevented the Yankees from tacking on more runs.
“Yeah, it’s one of the better double plays I’ve ever seen,” shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. said. “First, just stopping to make the play. Second, just throwing from his backside to get it to second base and getting one out. And getting the double play to get out of the bases-loaded jam was incredible.”
An inning later, India turned in his own defensive highlight. He leaped to snare a screaming line drive off the bat of Yankees first baseman Paul Goldschmidt.
Royals reliever Daniel Lynch IV added another fine play. He fielded a soft ground ball from LeMahieu, spun and threw to first base for the out. Lynch was attended to briefly by members of the Royals’ training staff afterward, but he remained in the game.
Kris Bubic knocked around early
Starting pitcher Kris Bubic hadn’t pitched in over a week. The Royals decided to give him some extra rest as he continues to navigate his first full season back from Tommy John surgery.
Bubic didn’t make his last scheduled start but was back on the mound against the Yankees.
His performance was mixed. The Yankees scored five runs against him in the second inning, but he was able to settle down and pitch 4 1/3 innings. He surrendered six hits and four walks and struck out three.
“Command was a little bit off,” Quatraro said. “They strung together a bunch of good at-bats, hit the ball hard and drove his pitch count up at the same time as the 40-pitch inning.
“The stuff looked fine. I don’t know if he used his changeup as much as he normally does. That was one thing that stood out to me a little bit. Overall, it was just lack of command.”
In the seventh inning, Aaron Judge, the reigning American League MVP, hit a solo home run over the center-field wall. It was his 25th homer of the season and second in two days.
“This series, obviously, has been a little tough the last two nights,” Bubic said. “But at the end of the day, if you want to be the best, you have to beat the best. They were the best in the American League last year and you can argue that’s the best lineup in the game right now.”
The Royals will attempt to salvage a win in the series finale on Thursday. KC will start right-handed pitcher Seth Lugo, while the Yankees turn to right-hander Will Warren.
“If we want to win and be where we want to be at the end of the year,” Bubic said, “those are teams you’ve got to beat and be competitive against.”
This story was originally published June 11, 2025 at 9:52 PM.
