Yankees demolish Royals 13-4

Then, when the broadcast came back from commercial break, we discovered that manager Matt Quatraro had been ejected, likely for arguing that Will Warren should have been called for a balk in the first inning. It was a curious time for the argument to occur, as at least one pitch had been thrown since the alleged balk and had nothing else changed, Caglianone’s flyout still would have ended the inning. As many fans, including your truly, would joke later: maybe Q just saw what was coming and decided he didn’t want to be in the dugout for it.

Things started off pretty good for Noah Cameron; he retired seven of the first eight he saw with a four-pitch walk to Aaron Judge. Then, with one out in the third inning, Caglianone and Kyle Isbel collided on what could have been a routine flyout, leading to a three-base error. Isbel, as the centerfielder, has priority on the play, but without having been on the field, I blame him for not being louder when calling for it. He’s the one who got the error because the ball initially landed in Jac’s glove before being jostled free by the collision. From there, things went off the rails.

Amed Rosario smashed a two-run home run, Aaron Judge took a second walk, and Cody Bellinger smashed his first home run of the day. Giancarlo Stanton hit a grounder for the second out, but Ben Rice hit a home run to make it 5-0 Yankees, and we all knew the game was basically over.

In the top of the fourth, Bobby Witt Jr. led off with a single but was picked off first base after a Vinnie Pasquantino popout and before Jac Caglianone could strike out looking. The Royals struck out 12 times on the day, 5 of those were looking. They didn’t advance a runner until Carter’s home run in the seventh, and not again until Carter’s walk in the ninth and Massey’s subsequent 2-RBI double. Isaac Collins returned to the lineup to collect a golden sombrero from the designated hitter slot. The Royals played some sloppy, sloppy baseball and look badly in need of a reset. The TV broadcast team had hoped the road trip would serve as one for the offense, but it seems to have only made things worse.

Two of Noah Cameron’s three worst starts are against the Yankees, his only two against them. Maybe Q should arrange the rotation such that Cameron never faces them again. Small hat tip to Mitch Spence, who pitched the final four innings of the game. He gave up six runs while striking out 3 and walking 5, but at least the rest of the bullpen got a day off to think about what they’d done this whole road trip.

Tomorrow, as always, is another day. It’s a day where the Royals will battle a left-handed starting pitcher, Ryan Weathers, so don’t get your hopes up too much. Cole Ragans will go for the Royals. If his stuff looks as bad as it didn’t against Detroit, don’t expect the team to be in it for very long. The game will be broadcast on Royals.TV at the same time as today’s contest, 12:35 central.