LDN - Sports

Shreve saves Yanks' 10-inning win over Royals

[August 31, 2016] KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Chasen Shreve was recalled Tuesday afternoon from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre for his fourth stint this season with the New York Yankees.

In the 10th inning Tuesday night, Shreve was summoned from the bullpen and picked up his first big league save as the Yankees outlasted the Kansas City Royals 5-4.

Shreve entered with the bases full of Royals. Speedsters Raul Mondesi and Jarrod Dyson were on third and second. Any base hit to the outfield likely would have scored both to give Kansas City a win. A sacrifice fly and the game is tied.

Shreve struck out Kendrys Morales on three pitches and retired Salvador Perez on a fly ball to center to end the threat and the game.

"I mean, it was really difficult," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said of the situation facing Shreve. "He came in and really picked us up."

Ben Heller hit Mondesi with a pitch, and Dyson singled the runner to third. Dyson then stole second with no outs. After Heller struck out Lorenzo Cain with a slider, Eric Hosmer was walked intentionally. In came Shreve to get the final two outs.

"I just really liked out chances with Cain, Morales and Salvy coming up," Royals manager Ned Yost said. "Cain battled some pitches and just swung through a slider. And we couldn't put the ball in play. It's just one of those deals where they made good pitches."

Jacoby Ellsbury's two-out, 10th-inning infield single scored pinch runner Aaron Hicks with the go-ahead run.

Ellsbury's sharp grounder ricocheted off pitcher Joakim Soria to third baseman Christian Colon for his fourth hit. That matched Ellsbury's career high, the 14th time in his career he accomplished the feat.

"That was an easy ground ball right to me," Soria said. "I don't know if I slipped or something, but I ended up on the ground. It's frustrating. That's what you want, the ground ball to get the third out and try to give us a chance to win the game. Obviously, it didn't happen."

Soria gave up singles to Brian McCann and Chase Headley to begin the inning before striking out the next two batters. Brett Gardner drew his third walk to load the bases before Ellsbury's hit. The Yankees went 2-for-16 with runners in scoring position, stranding 13 runners.

Soria (4-6) gave up one run on three hits in his lone inning. Dellin Betances (3-4) tossed two scoreless innings to pick up the victory.

Brian McCann collected three hits for New York, and Gardner had two hits and reached base five times.

The Royals tied it in the eighth without a hit. Tyler Clippard walked Lorenzo Cain leading off the inning and was replaced by All-Star reliever Betances. Cain stole second and advanced to third on catcher Gary Sanchez's throwing error. Morales' sacrifice fly scored Cain, making it 4-4.

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Royals designated hitter Kendrys Morales (25) hits a home run against the New York Yankees in the fourth inning at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: John Rieger-USA TODAY Sports

The Yankees jumped out to a 4-0 lead on a two-run Aaron Judge homer in the second inning, then an Ellsbury RBI double and a Chase Headley sacrifice fly in the third.

Kansas City cut the deficit on a Jarrod Dyson run-scoring triple in the third, Kendrys Morales' solo homer in the fourth and Lorenzo Cain's RBI double in the sixth. Dyson finished 3-for-5.

After a 59-minute rain delay before the top of the sixth could start, Yankees starter Masahiro Tanaka was not allowed to come back out. He yielded two runs on four hits, walking none and striking out four. He is 4-0 with a 1.93 ERA in his past five starts.

"I had enough energy so definitely I would have liked to go (back) out there, but you can't do anything about the weather," Tanaka said through an interpreter.

Royals starter Edinson Volquez gave up four runs on nine hits in 3 1/3 innings.

NOTES: The Yankees recalled LHP Chasen Shreve from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, his fourth stint with the Yankees this season. RHP Kirby Yates was optioned to Pulaski of the Appalachian League, and he will be eligible to be recalled later this week after rosters expand. ... Royals OF Billy Burns celebrated his 27th birthday. ... The Royals went 9-16 when OF Lorenzo Cain was on the disabled list in July. They are 20-11 since he returned. ... Yankees OF prospect Ben Gamel was named the MVP of the International League, where he is hitting .308 and leads the league with 80 runs and is third with 149 hits. ... Yankees RHP Luis Cessa (4-0, 4.11 ERA) and Royals RHP Ian Kennedy (9-9, 3.57) are the Wednesday probables for the series finale.

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