KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Yankees benched 19 toes, 4 inches of sluggers.
In a visiting dugout that actually has seen extra spacious days resided Aaron Decide (6-foot-7), who was afforded his first breather of the season, Giancarlo Stanton (6-foot-6), who took a seat with Juan Soto DH-ing and Anthony Rizzo (6-foot-3), who was given one other day to kind out his struggles.
As has been the case all season, the Yankees discovered a method anyway.
Their top dashed, the Yankees as a substitute rode small-ball and Carlos Rodon to a well-played, 4-2 win in a collection opener over the Royals at Kauffman Stadium on Monday.
The Yankees (47-21) have gained 10 of 12, 14 of 18 and 21 of 27, persevering with to roll even when the way of the roll modified. They entered play second in MLB in residence runs, but they turned 9 singles into 4 runs, doing all their injury with out an extra-base hit.
Aaron Boone’s bunch dropped down three sacrifice bunts and confirmed bunt 3 times within the first 4 innings, two of these executed effectively to result in runs towards an improved Royals membership (39-28).
“Not that I count on us to be a workforce that’s bunting loads or stealing bases loads — it’s not essentially our personnel,” Boone mentioned after the Yankees reached a season-high-tying 26 video games over .500. “However we have now guys that may play that sport. There are specific occasions it’s a must to do little issues on a diamond that can assist you win a ballgame.”
That may be greater than sufficient for Rodon, who introduced a no-hitter into the fifth inning and completed with seven one-run frames in yet one more begin that put his depressing 2023 within the rearview mirror.
The Yankees laid out the bunt-print instantly. Within the first inning, three singles (from a returning Soto, Gleyber Torres and Alex Verdugo) plated one run and put runners on the corners for DJ LeMahieu.
With one out, the workforce’s No. 5 hitter laid down a bunt that scored Verdugo and have become LeMahieu’s first sac bunt since 2022 and second since 2020.
The bunt present was solely simply starting. Within the fourth, LeMahieu knocked a one-out single earlier than Trent Grisham tried to bunt however received plunked on the foot. The following batter, Jahmai Jones, efficiently received the bunt right down to set the desk for Jose Trevino, who got here by with a two-run single that helped the Yankees draw back.
“It’s extra stress [on the opposing team] that helps you win a sport that you simply’re not slugging your strategy to or it’s not only a dominant pitching outing,” mentioned Boone, who noticed Trevino put down one other sac bunt within the ninth.
That was all of the scoring the Yankees would do towards Seth Lugo, the previous Mets reliever who has reinvented himself and entered play 9-1 with a 2.13 ERA, but it surely was all they wanted as a result of Rodon is a vastly totally different pitcher than the final time he stepped on the Kansas Metropolis mound.
Rodon had not pitched on this stadium since final Sept. 29, when he allowed eight runs and didn’t report an out in a becoming strategy to finish his disastrous first 12 months with the Yankees.
“I knew this sport was coming,” mentioned Rodon, who lowered his ERA to 2.92 in a season of redemption. “It was circled on the calendar and I wished to provide the workforce the very best probability to win after popping out of right here final 12 months, what occurred. … I undoubtedly do not forget that.”
Via 4 innings, Rodon solely permitted one base runner — plunking a batter within the second — and had confronted the minimal as a result of that batter was erased on a double-play ball.
His no-hitter was spoiled within the fifth, when Nelson Velazquez lined a single by the left facet, and his shutout bid was ruined within the seventh, when Freddy Fermin added an RBI single.
However Rodon escaped additional injury and received a floor out from MJ Melendez to strand a pair of runners within the seventh, giving the ball to a bullpen that may maintain the lead.
On an evening the Yankees proved they may win one other method, Rodon as soon as once more proved he’s a world away from the pitcher who bombed final season.
“I attempted to flush it early on, but it surely’s arduous to get that one out of your head,” Rodon mentioned of final season’s KC catastrophe. “It wasn’t only one begin, it was the fruits of the entire 2023 season.”
