NEW YORK -- For the first time ever, all four Division Series matchups are tied at a game apiece. Monday night the Kansas City Royals evened their series with the New York Yankees with a 4-2 win at Yankee Stadium (box score). New York won a dramatic back-and-forth Game 1 on Saturday. The best-of-five ALDS is now a best-of-three.
Two games into this series, the two MVP candidates -- Aaron Judge and Bobby Witt Jr. -- are a combined 1 for 17 with an infield single and eight strikeouts while the various No. 9 hitters are a combined 6 for 14. That's baseball for you. In Game 1, New York's supporting cast rose to the occasion. In Game 2, it was the Royals other than Witt who stepped up to win the game.
Here now are three takeaways from Game 2 between the Yankees and Royals, plus a quick look ahead to Game 3.
The first inning was maybe Carlos Rodón's most dominant inning of 2024. Three up, three down, three strikeouts on 12 pitches. He mostly cruised through the first three innings overall, allowing only three singles, one of which did not leave the infield. Rodón could not have looked much better three innings into the game.
The game unraveled on Rodón in the fourth inning, after the lineup turned over. New York took a 1-0 lead on Giancarlo Stanton's two-out RBI single in the bottom of the third. Salvador Perez answered right back with a leadoff homer to start the fourth. Yuli Gurriel, Tommy Pham, Garrett Hampson, and Maikel Garcia all followed with singles to turn it into a four-run inning.
Hampson, who slashed .230/.275/.300 during the regular season, came through with a two-out, two-strike single to keep the inning alive. With all due respect, that's a hitter Rodón has to put away to squash the rally and keep the deficit at 2-1. Instead, Hampson singled, then Garcia singled, and a survivable two-run inning turned into a four-run meltdown.
The first time through the lineup, Royals hitters went 2 for 9 with five strikeouts against Rodón. The second time around they went 4 for 9 with a homer (Perez) and three two-strike hits (Gurriel, Pham, and Hampson). Rodón left some sliders right in the middle of the plate and Kansas City took advantage. Bad job by him, good job by them.
Give the Yankees credit, they really made Royals ace Cole Ragans work. Ragans needed 87 pitches to get through four innings and in those four innings he allowed three hits and walked four. Only four times during the regular season did Ragans walk as many as four batters. The Yankees wore him down and pushed across a run, but that's all. One run.
Ragans went only four innings and Kansas City's offense knocked Rodón out after 3 2/3 innings. Game 2 turned into a battle of the bullpens and the Royals' relief crew was up to the task. The head-to-head comparison:
| Royals | Yankees | |
|---|---|---|
RP used | 4 | 7 |
IP | 5 | 5 1/3 |
H | 4 | 4 |
R | 1 | 0 |
BB | 1 | 2 |
K | 3 | 8 |
HR | 1 | 0 |
The only run Kansas City's bullpen allowed was Jazz Chisholm Jr.'s leadoff home run in the ninth inning. The Yankees did bring the tying run to the plate against Lucas Erceg with two outs in the ninth, though Gleyber Torres grounded out to short to end the game. Chisholm on the homer was the only runner the Royals' bullpen allowed to reach second base in five innings.
Two of the four Royals relievers were left-handed: Angel Zerpa and Kris Bubic. They combined for three innings (two by Bubic). This is notable because the Yankees had issues with lefties during the regular season, particularly lefties who could spin the ball. Zerpa and Bubic can really spam hitters with high-spin breaking balls. They were bad matchups for New York and it showed in Game 2.
During the regular season Kansas City's bullpen ranked 20th in ERA (4.13) and 16th in WAR (3.6). That doesn't represent the bullpen they have now though. Bubic and John Schreiber returned from injuries at midseason and were dynamite late. Erceg came over at the deadline. In September, the bullpen had a 2.77 ERA, fourth best in baseball. That's the group they have now.
The Yankees had Ragans on the ropes early in Game 2 -- they stranded two runners apiece in the first and third innings -- and never did get The Big Hit. They went 1 for 6 with runners in scoring position and are 3 for 19 in those spots in the two ALDS games. The Royals, meanwhile, are 5 for 15 with runners in scoring position in the series.
That was the difference in Game 2. Ragans executed pitches when he was in a jam and limited the damage. Rodón could not put hitters away when Kansas City rallied in the fourth inning and was done in when he left several sliders in the middle of the plate. One starter got out of trouble, the other didn't, and that was that.
With Anthony Rizzo (two broken fingers) and DJ LeMahieu (hip impingement) hurt, the Yankees do not have any good options at first base at the moment, and in Game 2 they stuck utility man Jon Berti at the position. Other than a few innings in spring training back in 2021, Berti had never played the position in a major- or minor-league game.
"He's looked outstanding over there (during his recent workouts)," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said about the decision to start Berti at first base prior to Game 2. " He's played a little bit in Spring Training over the years, but just a really natural infielder, and just the person that I have a lot of confidence in ... Just feel like he's really looked the part over there this last week, and I feel like he brings a lot to the table, too."
According to MLB Network, Berti is the third player ever to start at a position for the first time in a postseason game, joining Jake Flowers (third base in the 1931 World Series) and Carlos Santana (left field in the 2016 World Series). It was a risky move and you know what? Berti looked fantastic at first. He snared a line drive to save a run and turned it into a double play in the fifth.
Berti also made two nice scoops to save errors. For someone who had not ever played first in a game that counts, he looked pretty good. The downside is Berti is not much of a hitter, though he did single in the ninth inning of Game 2. New York's first basemen hit .216/.284/.335 this year and are homerless since July 31. At a position with a high offensive bar, the Yankees have gotten very little.
The best-of-five ALDS is now a best-of-three. There is yet another off-day Tuesday -- the ALDS schedule has off-days after Game 1, Game 2, and Game 4 this October -- then the series shifts to Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City for Game 3 on Wednesday. Clarke Schmidt and Seth Lugo are the scheduled starting pitchers.
This is the first time ever that the divisional round has seen all four series tied at one game apiece. The Division Series Era is from 1995 to present and they also had one in 1981's strike-divided season with the first half and second half division winners taking part.
The final score is 4-2. Most of the runs came in a quick bunch. The Yankees grabbed one in the bottom of the third and then the Royals scored all four of theirs in the top of the fourth. The Yankees got one back on Jazz Chisholm Jr.'s homer in the ninth, but it wasn't enough. Veteran, All-Star catcher Salvador Perez hit the Royals' homer. The Royals outhit the Yankees 11-6 and got good work from their bullpen until the ninth.
This ALDS is a best of five and each team has won one game so far, essentially make it a best-of-three now.
The series will shifts to Kansas City for Game 3 on Wednesday. Clarke Schmidt gets the ball for the Yankees while Seth Lugo starts for the Royals.
Jazz Chisholm Jr. led off the bottom of the ninth with a solo home run to cut the Royals' lead to 4-2. Here's a look:
It'll be Jazz Chisholm Jr., Anthony Volpe and Alex Verdugo in the ninth against Royals closer Lucas Erceg.
A Giancarlo Stanton double play ends the inning. This should be elementary now with a three-run Royals lead, if not more, for Lucas Erceg to hold. That would mean all four divisional series are tied, 1-1.
Leadoff infield single for Judge. The crowd desperately wants to get back into this. Royals reliever Kris Bubic is usually pretty stingy, though.
Aaron Judge gets his first hit of the series, an infield single to third base. He and Bobby Witt Jr. had been a combined 0 for 15 in the series before that hit.
Judge due up first in the eighth. Yankees have six offensive outs to get at least three runs.
The blue D train won the Great Subway Race between innings. The Yankees are doomed.
We're at the seventh inning stretch. That happened fast. The last few innings have flown by.
It's his first game at the position:
Jon 1Berti, folks.
They've walked five Yankees, but have escaped with little damage. Kansas City is 3 for 7 with RISP. The Yankees are 1 for 6.
Getting Ragans out after four inning is a good thing for the Yankees. The score is not.
That'll do it for Ragans tonight. Angel Zerpa coming in for the Royals.
Deuce McBride and KAT are here at Yankee Stadium 🏀
Royals lead 4-1. Cole Ragans is at 87 pitches, so he is likely done after five, if he finishes that inning. The Royals bullpen has some live arms, but it is not a strength overall.
The Royals have a 79.7% chance of winning Game 2.
Salvador Perez leads off the fourth inning with a solo homer. New York's lead lasted six pitches. It's 1-1. Looks like TBS had the ump cam in use for the homer:
Perez led the Royals with nine homers against lefties this season (no one else had more than five) and homers are the way you can beat Rodón. He gave up 31 during the regular season, second most in baseball.
The Royals added three more runs in the fourth inning on Tommy Pham, Garrett Hampson, and Maikel Garcia singles. Both came in two-strike counts too. After a great first inning, Rodón is done here in the fourth.
Giancarlo Stanton muscles a single through the left side of the infield -- it ate up Bobby Witt Jr. at short -- to score Gleyber Torres from second base. The Yankees have a 1-0 lead in the third inning. Cole Ragans is at 70 pitches as Jazz Chisholm Jr. grounds out to end the inning.
The Yankees have put six runners on base against Ragans in his three innings. They've taken some really excellent at-bats against one of the best pitchers in baseball, and made life difficult on him.
Two more runners on base! For the Yankees. Stanton is up with two outs.
Gleyber Torres has reached base in five of his seven plate appearances this series. He bats leadoff ahead of Soto and Judge. The Royals are gonna have to do a better job keeping him off the base to win this series.
Singles by the No. 9 and No. 1 hitters put two on for Bobby Witt Jr., but he grounded out to third (lead runner was forced out). Vinnie Pasquantino flew out to left to end the inning. Two runners have been stranded in three of the five half-innings so far.
The Yankees are making Cole Ragans work. He's thrown 48 pitches through two scoreless innings. The Yankees had a runner in scoring position in each inning, but couldn't bring him home.
Another RISP situation for the Yankees as Volpe swipes second.
Two scoreless innings for Carlos Rodón. 20 pitches, 18 strikes.
Going back to the regular season, Aaron Judge has struck out in nine of his last 11 plate appearances. After the two walks, Cole Ragans bounced back to fan Judge and Austin Wells, and get Giancarlo Stanton on a broken bat grounder. The Yankees had two on with no outs in the first inning in both games, but didn't score either time.
Cole Ragans, Royals starter, walked zero in six innings against the Orioles last round.
That might've been the most dominant inning Carlos Rodón threw all season.
