September 9 – The two teams competing for a playoff spot begin a three-game series against the visiting Kansas City Royals on Monday.
New York (82-61) won two of three games over the Chicago Cubs over the weekend and moved a half-game ahead of the Baltimore Orioles for first place in the AL East.
Kansas City (79-65) has won four in a row after losing seven straight. The Royals took a three-game lead over the Minnesota Twins by beating them 2-0 on Sunday.
The Royals are 2.5 games ahead of Minnesota in the race for the second AL Central wild-card spot.
Kansas City got a boost from leadoff hitter Tommy Pham, who is 8-for-27 (.296) with four RBIs in seven games since being claimed off waivers from the St. Louis Cardinals.
“He’s a spark plug,” Royals second baseman Michael Masi said. “He brings a spark to our team and obviously does a great job of setting the tone and leading the innings as well as getting guys going. We’re lucky to have him.”
The Yankees are awaiting the next burst of energy from slugger Aaron Judge, who has gone 12 consecutive games without a home run, his longest streak of the season. He went 1-for-3 with a walk on Sunday.
“He hit some smoke balls today,” New York coach Aaron Boone said. “When he’s really moving around, he might miss a couple of balls that get stuck in the seats. He’ll hit the ball consistently. He’s just not anywhere near the mark.”
Yankees outfielder Juan Soto was 0 of 4 with two strikeouts in Sunday’s game and 1 of 10 in the weekend series against the Cubs.
Right-hander Brady Singer (9-10, 3.35 ERA) will start the series for Kansas City. He allowed two runs in 5 2/3 innings in a 7-1 loss to the Cleveland Defenders on Tuesday.
The 28-year-old Singer has a 1-4 record in his last six starts despite striking out 35 and walking seven in that span.
“This is baseball,” Singer said after Tuesday’s game. “It’s part of the journey and it’s part of the season. We have a really great club here. I’m excited every day when we come to the stadium.”
Anthony Rizzo went 2 for 11 against Singer, who is 0-2 with a 5.19 ERA in five career starts against New York.
The Yankees will face left-hander Carlos Rodon (14-9, 4.19), who struck out a season-high 11 batters and allowed one walk over six innings on Tuesday against the Texas Rangers.
Rodon, 31, gave up his only hit in the first inning, a homer by Josh Jung in the fourth inning.
Rodon is 8-2 with a 3.08 ERA in 11 starts at home this season and 6-7 with a 5.01 ERA in 17 games on the pitch.
Salvador Perez went 10 of 23 against Rodon, who is 4-6 with a 4.82 ERA in 12 career games against Kansas City.
The Yankees are expected to activate versatile cornerback Jon Berti from the injured list before Monday’s game. He has been out of action since May 24 with a left calf strain.
“One of the reasons we like him is his versatility,” Boone said. “He’s another guy who brings speed to the bases and can play the outfield well and is a very good infielder as well.”
–Visual-level media
