THE Yankees the programming could not arrive Seth Lugo as they managed just three hits in their 5-0 defeat to the Kansas City Royals Tuesday night in the Bronx.
Here are the key points…
–Marcus Stroman The Royals had runners on base for most of the game — partly because of poor defense behind Stroman — but the veteran right-hander got out of some trouble early. However, Kansas City scored two runs on a Bobby Witt Jr. Simple RBI and Salvador Perez Double RBI.
Perez homered again in the fifth, hitting an RBI single up the middle to give the Royals a 3-0 lead.
Stroman pitched to the sixth but left with runners on base. Mark Leiter Jr. would escape without allowing another race.
Stroman allowed three runs on seven hits and two walks while striking out four in 5.1 innings (89 pitches/56 strikeouts).
-Lugo was on the other side for the Royals and dominated. Gleyber Torres Torres led off the game with a single, but the right-hander went on to retire the next 17 Yankees in a row. Torres got the team’s second hit and finished 2 for 4. Torres has now hit safely in 18 of his last 19 games, including an 11-game hitting streak, his longest of the season.
Austin Wells (1 of 3) collected the team’s third and final hit of the game.
-With Lugo out, the Yankees’ lineup struggled to get runners on base. New York didn’t reach base in the eighth or ninth innings and was thrown out four times by Royals relievers.
The Yankees were eliminated 14 times in Tuesday’s loss.
Aaron Judge And Juan Soto combined to go 0 for 8 with four strikeouts. Jason Dominguez, Starting for the second straight game, he finished 0 for 3 with one strikeout.
-In replacement for Stroman, the Yankees bullpen struggled. Leiter Jr. allowed a solo shot in the seventh and Tim Mayza allowed a run on two hits in the eighth to give the Royals a 5-0 lead.
Best Player of the Game: Seth Lugo
It couldn’t have been anyone else. Lugo kept the Yankees from getting on base and, more importantly, from scoring.
Lugo pitched seven scoreless innings, allowing just three hits and no walks while striking out 10 batters.
And then?
The Yankees and Royals complete their three-game series Wednesday night in the Bronx.
Luis Gil (13-6, 3.24 ERA) will make his second start on the IL while the Royals will have Cole Ragans (11-9, 3.33 ERA) takes the mound.
