Romine lifts Yankees past Royals in 10 innings
Austin Romine hit a game-winning single with one out in the bottom of the 10th inning as the host New York Yankees recorded a 7-6 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Sunday afternoon after blowing a five-run lead in the eighth.
Mike Tauchman and Gio Urshela opened the inning by drawing walks from Jake Diekman (0-1), who was replaced by Ian Kennedy. After the runners were sacrificed to second and third by pinch hitter Thairo Estrada, Romine won by lifting a fly ball over center fielder Billy Hamilton's head.
After getting his hit, Romine was mobbed at first base by his teammates.
Zack Britton (1-0) nearly was injured and pitched a scoreless top of the 10th. He appeared in pain after diving back to first to complete a pickoff against speedy pinch runner Terrance Gore but stayed in the game after throwing two warmup pitches and struck out the next two hitters.
Romine forged a 6-6 tie with a single off Wily Peralta in the eighth that occurred after Chad Green and Adam Ottavino coughed up a 5-0 lead.
Green exited after loading the bases and Ottavino allowed a two-run double to Adalberto Mondesi to make it 5-2. Ottavino then allowed a game-tying, three-run homer to Gordon and a solo shot to Hunter Dozier on consecutive pitches.
Before the wild sequences of the late innings, the Yankees carried a 5-0 lead into the eighth behind the dominance of left-hander James Paxton and a three-run homer by Clint Frazier in the fifth off Kansas City starter Jorge Lopez.
Paxton allowed three hits and struck out 12 in six-plus scoreless innings, exiting after allowing the first two hitters of the seventh to reach.
The win occurred after Aaron Judge became the 13th Yankees' player to land on the injured list due to a strained left oblique that manager Aaron Boone described as "pretty significant."
Paxton produced his 13th career double-digit strikeout game and followed up 12 strikeouts against Boston on Tuesday by dominating again.
Paxton became the second Yankee to get at least 12 strikeouts in consecutive games, matching current television analyst David Cone. Cone did it June 7-14, 1998, against the Miami Marlins and Cleveland Indians respectively.
Lopez allowed five runs (four earned) on eight hits in seven innings.
New York held a 2-0 lead through four and a half innings.
DJ LeMahieu opened the game with a double and scored on a passed ball by catcher Martin Maldonado in the first. Mike Ford doubled for his first career hit with two outs in the second and scored on a single by Romine.
--Field Level Media
