Field Level Media
May 19, 2018
Gary Sanchez highlighted a four-hit showing by hitting two solo homers as the New York Yankees beat the host Kansas City Royals 8-3 Saturday night at Kauffman Stadium.
Sanchez recorded his 10th career two-homer game by connecting in the seventh inning off Burch Smith and in the ninth off Blaine Boyer. He also added an RBI double and singled for his second career four-hit game.
Gleyber Torres hit a tiebreaking three-run home run off Danny Duffy (1-6), Giancarlo Stanton hit a mammoth solo homer and Aaron Hicks hit an inside-the-park homer as the Yankees won for the 20th time in 24 games and hit five homers for the first time since June 10 against the Baltimore Orioles at Yankee Stadium.
It was the first time since Aug. 14, 2010, that the Yankees homered five times in Kansas City.
Hicks became the first Yankee to hit multiple inside-the-park homers in a season since Hall of Famer Mickey Mantle did it in 1958 off Pedro Ramos, Dick Donavan and Early Wynn. He also became the first player to hit multiple inside-the-park homers before the end of May since former Royal Brian McRae in 1991.
Hicks is the sixth Yankee to hit at least two inside-the-park homers in a season. His other inside-the-park homer occurred April 13 at Detroit.
Luis Severino (7-1) won his fifth straight decision despite laboring at times. He allowed three runs and eight hits in six innings.
Ryan Goins hit an RBI double while Jorge Soler and Mike Moustakas hit run-scoring singles as Kansas City lost for the sixth time in seven games.
Kansas City's Danny Duffy (1-6) allowed five runs and seven hits in four innings.
The Yankees took a 1-0 lead when Hicks opened the game with a single, advanced on Stanton's flyout and scored on Sanchez's double.
Hicks made it 2-0 when his fly ball bounced off the top of the right field wall and Soler fell chasing the ball as it caromed towards center field. After rounding third, Hicks scored standing up.
Kansas City made it 2-1 when Alcides Escobar led off the third with a single and easily scored on Goins' double down the left field line. The Royals tied the game on Soler's bloop single up the middle.
New York regained the lead when Torres sent Duffy's 1-2 slider 407 feet into a seating area above the bullpen well beyond the left field fence with nobody out in the fourth.
Moustakas made it 5-3 with a single in the fifth. One pitch later, Salvador Perez doubled off the left field wall, but Moustakas was tagged out by Sanchez on the headfirst slide and replay upheld the call.
After finishing the defensive play, Sanchez made it 6-3 by lifting Smith's 0-2 curveball over the left field fence.
Stanton made it 7-3 by reaching the fountains when he hammered Boyer's 1-0 curveball over the left-center field fence.
Three pitches later, Sanchez homered into the left-center field seats by depositing a 2-1 fastball over the wall.
--Field Level Media