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Yankees vs. Royals score: Giancarlo Stanton sends New York to ALCS for fourth time in eight years

The Yankees will face either the Guardians or the Tigers

The New York Yankees defeated the Kansas City Royals 3-1 on Thursday night in ALDS Game 4, thereby winning the best-of-five series by a 3-1 margin and advancing to the AL Championship Series. 

The Yankees will now await the winner of the ALDS between the Cleveland Guardians and Detroit Tigers -- the Guardians won Game 4 earlier in the night, forcing a decisive Game 5 for Saturday in Cleveland.

Gerrit Cole, New York's ace, delivered a gem to close out the series. He limited the Royals to one run on six hits and no walks over seven innings of work. Cole struck out four of the 26 batters he faced and required 87 pitches to do it. He generated six swinging strikes, the most of any pitcher who appeared in Game 4.

The Yankees subsequently turned the game over to their bullpen for the eighth and ninth innings. Clay Holmes received the eighth inning and Luke Weaver the ninth. 

Offensively, the Yankees were paced by second baseman Gleyber Torres and designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton. Each recorded a pair of hits and drove in a run. Torres helped New York get out of the gates quickly, notching a hustle double to kick off the game then scoring on a Juan Soto single. Stanton, fresh off a three-hit Game 3, doubled and plated the Yankees' third run on a single. 

The two sides did have a brief benches-clearing spat during the sixth inning, after Maikel Garcia slid late into second base and the Yankees took exception. The situation did not escalate further, however.

Each game of the series was decided by two runs or fewer. The Yankees took Game 1 by a 6-5 final and Game 3 by a 3-2 margin; the Royals, for their part, won Game 2 by a 4-2 mark. In all, the Yankees outscored the Royals by a 14-12 spread. The Royals won't be happy with the outcome, obviously, but it was a highly competitive series that could've easily gone their way with a different break here and there.

The ALCS will begin on Monday, Oct. 14. The Yankees, by virtue of having the best record in the AL during the regular season, will possess home-field advantage in that best-of-seven set. 

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Live updates
 

Judge's struggles continue this postseason. Really it's been multiple postseasons.

 

Cole works around the traffic. We're a third of the way home. New York leads 1-0.

 

Pham leads off the bottom of the third with Kansas City's first hit of the night.

 

Soto strikes out. Wacha has retired six in a row.

 

Soto up here with two outs in the third.

 

Cole's perfect through two

Yankees continue to lead 1-0.

 

And Verdugo doesn't come through for New York. It's still 1-0 heading into the bottom of the second.

 

Yankees at risk here of stranding Stanton after a leadoff double. It'll be up to Alex Verdugo.

 

The KC faithful remain not so fond of Mr. Chisholm.

 

Stanton sneaks a ball down the right-field line. It's a double. His tear continues.

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Stanton up for the first time. Three-hit night yesterday, including a home run and a double. He also stole a base, his first in nearly 500 games.

 

The answer to what the Royals offense can do? Nothing against Cole.

 

Massey steps in against Cole. Let's see what the Royals offense can do.

 

Judge grounds into a double play. Wacha is an out from getting through the first only allowing one.

 

Yankees jump ahead 1-0

Torres hustled his way into a leadoff double on the first pitch of the evening from Michael Wacha. Juan Soto then finds a hole on the right side of the infield. 

Take a look:

Tommy Pham didn't make a clean pickup anyway, so Torres was able to scamper home without a throw. 

The Yankees are ahead right out of the gate. A win tonight sends them to the ALCS.

 

Torres leads off with a first-pitch hustle double. Yankees in business right away here to begin the game.

 

Tonight's Royals lineup
 

Tonight's Yankees lineup
 

The stakes are straightforward tonight

If the Yankees win, they advance to the ALCS.

If the Royals win, we're back here on Saturday for the winner-take-all Game 5.

 

Welcome to Game 4

We're about 20 minutes from first pitch.

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