NEW YORK — Jazz Chisholm Jr. hit a game-winning infield single with one out in the 11th inning and the New York Yankees defeated the Kansas City Royals 4-3 on Wednesday night.
Juan Soto hit a home run in the sixth inning to give the Yankees the lead and extend their lead in the AL East to 1 1/2 games over Baltimore.
Just before Chisholm came through, the Orioles lost 5-3 in 10 innings at Fenway Park when Tyler O’Neill hit a walk-off home run for Boston.
Chisholm entered the game with runners on first and third base after Kris Bubic (0-1) intentionally walked Aaron Judge after a groundout by Soto that sent automatic runner Jon Berti from second to third base.
When the infield came back into play, Judge moved to second base due to a lack of defense and Chisolm hit a 2-1 slider to shortstop. Bobby Witt Jr. made a backhand dive, but an unbalanced throw from his knees missed the base. Berti, who was playing as a pinch runner, scored easily with a head-first slide.
Luke Weaver (5-3) managed three strikeouts in 1 2/3 hitless innings and took the win.
New York won two of three games in a series between playoff contenders. Kansas City fell 4 1/2 games behind first-place Cleveland in the AL Central but holds the league’s second wild card, 1 1/2 games ahead of Minnesota.
The teams traded runs in the 10th inning. Royals pinch-runner Darion Blanco stole third base and scored on Jake Cousins’ wild pitch. In the second period, pinch-hitter Austin Wells tied the game with a sacrifice fly.
Soto hit a two-run homer off Cole Ragan to give the Yankees a 2-1 lead, two pitches after fouling a ball to his right ankle in the sixth inning. The batter doubled over in pain but stayed in the game after being examined by head trainer Tim Lentych. Soto fouled off another pitch before sending a 402-footer into right field.
Salvador Perez tied the game with a sacrifice fly against Clay Holmes in the seventh inning and then started an impressive double play to end the bottom half.
With runners on first and second base, Jose Trevino hit a high chopper to the first baseman and Perez stretched to hit Trevino on the back of his jersey. Perez then quickly turned and made a strong throw to catcher Freddy Fermin, stopping Anthony Volpe at the plate.
Kansas City initially challenged the safe call, but it was overturned after a brief re-examination.
Ragans allowed two runs and three hits in six innings. He had seven strikeouts, overtaking Detroit left-hander Tarik Skubal for the American League lead in strikeouts.
Yankees rookie Luis Gil allowed one run and five hits in five innings in his second start after spending time on the injured list with a back injury.
Michael Massey hit a home run in the fourth inning against Gil, who retired MJ Melendez with two strikeouts in the bottom of the fifth inning.
TRAINING ROOM
Royals: RHP Michael Lorenzen (left hamstring strain) will make his next minor league rehab start this weekend and could return to the rotation next week. Lorenzen threw 38 pitches in 1 2/3 shaky innings for Double-A Northwest Arkansas on Tuesday night and felt good afterward, manager Matt Quatraro said.
Next
Royals: Have not yet announced a starter for the opener of a three-game series at Pittsburgh on Friday. RHP Luis Ortiz (6-5, 3.26 ERA) will pitch for the Pirates.
Yankees: LHP Nestor Cortes (9-10, 3.97 ERA) will face Boston RHP Cooper Criswell (6-4, 4.11) in the opener of a four-game series on Thursday night.
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
