KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Giancarlo Stanton delivered a pivotal home run in the eighth inning, propelling the New York Yankees to a 3-2 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Wednesday night in Game 3 of their American League Division Series at Kauffman Stadium.
Stanton had a standout performance with three hits, two RBIs, and a stolen base, marking his first steal in four years. The Yankees are gearing up to face six-time All-Star pitcher Gerrit Cole on Thursday night, with hopes of advancing to the American League Championship Series.
“We need to wrap it up tomorrow. No wiggle room,” Stanton stated. “We’ve got to get it done.”
The game was characterized by strong pitching, with the Royals utilizing four relievers before Kris Bubic, who transitioned from starter to bullpen ace, took over in the eighth. Bubic struck out Austin Wells, but Stanton followed with a powerful 3-1 pitch that traveled nearly 420 feet to left field, clinching the lead for New York.
“He’s done it throughout his career with us,” said Yankees manager Aaron Boone. “I thought that at-bat off Bubic was just phenomenal. I think he went up there looking to do damage, looking to do just that.”
The Royals attempted to respond in the bottom of the eighth, with Bobby Witt Jr. recording his first hit of the series and Salvador Perez adding a two-out single. However, Luke Weaver, who pitched flawlessly, secured the final out against Yuli Gurriel and completed 4 1/3 innings of scoreless relief for the Yankees.
New York’s bullpen has not allowed an earned run in 13 2/3 innings this postseason, demonstrating their strength.
“I think that’s been one of our strengths, if not our main strength, the whole year,” remarked Yankees starter Clarke Schmidt.
Meanwhile, Aaron Judge, a leading contender for the AL MVP, continued to struggle, going 0-for-4 and leaving him 1 for 11 in the series thus far.
“You’ve got to tip your cap to them,” said Royals manager Matt Quatraro. “They’re not chasing. They’re not expanding. But we also have to do a better job of limiting those for sure.”
The game marked the first playoff appearance at Kauffman Stadium in 3,268 days, dating back to the Royals’ win over the Mets in Game 2 of the 2015 World Series. Eric Hosmer, a first baseman on that championship team, threw the ceremonial first pitch to a crowd that included Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
The Yankees’ offense struggled early against Seth Lugo, despite some solid contact. Juan Soto had a fly out that would have cleared the fence in 17 ballparks, and Judge hit a laser that was caught by Witt. After breaking through in the fourth with Stanton’s double, which allowed Soto to score, the Yankees added a bases-loaded sacrifice fly from Soto in the fifth.
Kansas City responded with two runs in the fifth, as Kyle Isbel’s two-out double and Michael Massey’s RBI triple ignited the crowd. After that, the scoring halted until Stanton’s late homer secured the New York victory.
“They bring in great arms out of the ‘pen — they run outstanding starting pitchers out there — so it’s not easy,” Boone commented. “I feel like even in the second game where we only scored two, we’ve given ourselves a lot of chances in the first few games with plate discipline.”
STARTING LINES
Schmidt allowed two runs on four hits and a walk over 4 2/3 innings for the Yankees, while Lugo lasted five innings for Kansas City, giving up two hits and walking four.
UP NEXT
Yankees: Gerrit Cole (8-5, 3.41 ERA) is set to take the mound on Thursday night, having previously allowed four runs in five innings during Saturday’s opener.
Royals: RHP Michael Wacha (13-8, 3.35 ERA) will pitch against Cole again after completing just four innings in the opener. He allowed three runs but was not on the mound when the Yankees secured the go-ahead run.