One bad team leaves town and another one comes in. The Yankees wrapped up their fun little two-game sweep of the Red Sox last night, and tonight they welcome the Royals to the Bronx for the start of a four-game series. As fun as the Red Sox series was, the Yankees have to turn the page quickly and focus on tonight’s game and opponent.
“To come through in a spot like that, that felt good. All around, we played a (great) game,” Brett Gardner said following last night’s win. “… Dealing with injuries and roster moves it’s been a challenge. Those guys will be back. Until then we will keep plugging along.”
The Royals are, as expected, pretty bad. They’re 6-12 with a -13 run differential, and their starting pitcher tonight owns a 6.19 ERA (5.05 FIP) in 248.2 innings since 2015 (!). The Yankees did not take care of business against the Orioles, Tigers, or White Sox at home. Time to build off the Red Sox sweep tonight. Here are today’s lineups:
New York Yankees
1. CF Brett Gardner
2. RF Aaron Judge
3. 1B Luke Voit
4. SS Gleyber Torres
5. 3B DJ LeMahieu
6. LF Clint Frazier
7. DH Mike Ford
8. C Austin Romine
9. 2B Tyler Wade
RHP Domingo German
Kansas City Royals
1. 2B Whit Merrifield
2. SS Adalberto Mondesi
3. LF Alex Gordon
4. 3B Hunter Dozier
5. 1B Ryan O’Hearn
6. RF Jorge Soler
7. DH Lucas Duda
8. C Martin Maldonado
9. CF Billy Hamilton
RHP Homer Bailey
It is a bit cloudy and cool in the Bronx this evening. Also weirdly humid. Tonight’s game is another 6:35pm ET start and the YES Network will have the broadcast. Enjoy the game.
Injury Updates: Miguel Andujar (shoulder) took batting practice this afternoon and swung pretty hard. Here’s video. Doesn’t look like he held back much, if at all. Andujar also increased his throwing distance and intensity. Here’s video … Gary Sanchez (calf) took batting practice and ran the bases. Here’s video. Gary said he hopes to be activated when eligible Saturday … Didi Gregorius (Tommy John surgery) has stretched out his throwing to 120 feet. “He’s been doing really well. It’s gone as planned the whole way,” Aaron Boone said to Bryan Hoch … Troy Tulowitzki (calf) took batting practice this afternoon in addition to some running and fielding work. He hopes to rejoin the Yankees at some point next week.