Three Things to Take Away From the Royals' 6-5 Loss to the Yankees
The Kansas City Royals went back and forth with the New York Yankees before squandering the lead and losing in the bottom of the ninth to lose 6-5.
This was a wild game with four lead changes over the final two innings. The Royals were able to score two runs and take the lead against elite closer Aroldis Chapman before Luke Voit walked off Greg Holland in the ninth.
Kansas City falls to 33-39 on the season while New York improves to 39-34. Here's what I took away from the game.
Walk this way!
Royals pitchers continue to walk opposing hitters and put themselves into stressful innings. After walking eight runners the previous game, the Royals walked 11 Yankees. Three of the Yankee walks turned into runs. Walking hitters is going to happen but the Royals cannot expect to win games against good teams by giving free base runners.
The status of Salvador Perez.
Perez took a foul ball directly in the catcher's mask in the second inning. After being evaluated by the trainers, Perez stayed in the game and had another at-bat before being removed from the game in the fourth inning. Sebastian Rivero came into the game and did a good job behind the plate. He also worked a game-tying walk with two outs in the ninth against Chapman. Still, the bigger question is how serious is Perez's injuries? Cam Gallagher is already on the IL and there are no other catchers on the Royals 40-man. Not to mention, Perez has been the Royals' best player this year. If he has to miss any time at all, the Royals will have suffered their worst loss of the season.
The return of Danny Duffy.
Do not let the heartbreaking loss distract you from the fact Danny Duffy made his return to the rotation. Duffy made his first start since May 12. Duffy went two innings, striking out four and walking three. The stuff was there, but his command was off. Duffy did not go on a rehab assignment and is instead working on getting back to full strength at the Major Leagues. It was encouraging to see quality stuff from Duffy even if it was only for two innings. If Duffy can pick up where he left off, he will be a big boost to the Kansas City pitching staff.
