In a pivotal Game 4 of the American League Division Series, the New York Yankees defeated the Kansas City Royals 3-1 on Thursday night thanks to a strong seven innings from Gerrit Cole and crucial hits from Gleyber Torres, Juan Soto, and Giancarlo Stanton.
The Yankees made it to the American League Championship Series for the second time in three seasons and the fourth time since 2017 after missing the postseason the previous year. It won’t be until Saturday—when the Cleveland Guardians host the Detroit Tigers for Game 5 of that ALDS—that New York finds out who its opponent in the ALCS is. On Thursday, the Guardians defeated the Tigers 5-4 to extend their series.
Following a 56-106 season in 2023, the Royals made it past the wild-card round in their first postseason appearance since 2015, when they captured their team’s second World Series, under manager Matt Quatraro. In the series, star shortstop Bobby Witt hit just two home runs (.118) and walked.
In his first two at-bats, Yankees slugger Aaron Judge, who had established himself as the clear favourite to win AL MVP during the regular season, hit a booming double, scored a run, walked twice, and stole a base. Judge, however, struggled in the postseason.
After Anthony Volpe’s tag on a crucial double play and Maikel Garcia of the Royals sliding into second, benches and bullpens cleared momentarily in the bottom of the sixth inning. Cole (1-0) gave up one run and six hits in the first game of the series while striking out four batters. He pitched out of a jam in the sixth inning and kept the Royals off the scoreboard through the first five.
With Clay Holmes taking the eighth and Luke Weaver closing in the ninth to record his third save of the series, New York’s bullpen continued to dominate. In the series, the Yankees’ relievers allowed no runs in a combined total of 15 2/3 innings.
Like Cole, right-hander Michael Wacha began Game 1 with an early scoring for the Yankees. After Torres doubled, Soto hit an RBI single to right to score him, giving New York a 1-0 lead three pitches into the first inning.
With two outs in the fifth, Torres hit an RBI single to right that brought home Alex Verdugo from third base, but Wacha (0-1) prevented the Yankees from scoring any more runs. Wacha was subsequently replaced by Lucas Erceg to end the rally.
After hitting the game-winning home run in the closing moments of Game 3, Stanton doubled up in the sixth inning to give the team a 3-0 lead. With two outs in the sixth, Vinnie Pasquantino’s RBI double brought Witt home to give the Royals a lead, but the Yankees’ formidable defence prevented KC from mounting a more substantial inning.
First baseman Jon Berti and Volpe converted a Michael Massey grounder into a clean 1-6 double play after Garcia opened the scoring with a single. Volpe made a dedicated tag for a second out after Garcia made a hard slide, but Garcia stayed on the field. Before heads cooled, there appeared to be a stoppage as he jawed with a third Yankees player.
Salvador Perez popped out to finish the inning following Pasquantino’s RBI.
