NEW YORK — Jonathan Loaisiga has been a bright spot for the Yankees all season, one of the most dependable relievers in their bullpen.
The right-hander hasn't had many bad nights, but he had one Tuesday.
Loaisiga gave up four runs in the eighth inning, which ultimately sent the Yankees to a 6-5 loss to the Kansas City Royals before a crowd of 21,130 fans at Yankee Stadium.
DJ LeMahieu hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the inning to slice the Yankees' deficit to one run, but their comeback attempt fell short.
It was a surprisingly poor performance from Loaisiga, who entered the game having thrown 14 1/3 consecutive scoreless innings going back to May 23.
Loaisiga's struggles also meant that a strong outing from Gerrit Cole and a big night from Luke Voit in the first baseman's return were wasted.
Rough eighth inning
Loaisiga entered the eighth trying to protect a one-run lead.
He didn't come close to doing that.
Whit Merrifield led off with a single before Carlos Santana doubled to two runners on. After Salvador Perez struck out, Loaisiga gave up a run-scoring RBI single to Ryan O'Hearn to tie the game. Jarrod Dyson then hit a grounder to second, and instead of going to first for the out, Tyler Wade threw home but his throw was late and Santana slid in safely to put the Royals ahead.
Then the inning just got worse for the Yankees. By the time it was over, their one-run lead turned into a three-run deficit.
Not for long, though.
Kyle Zimmer walked Brett Gardner to start the bottom of the eighth before giving up the two-run blast to LeMahieu.
Scott Barlow came in and gave up a double to Aaron Judge, but pinch-hitter Rougned Odor swung at the first pitch he saw and popped out before Giancarlo Stanton grounded out to third to end the inning.
The Yankees had runners on first and second with two outs in the ninth, but Brett Garder popped out to third to end the game.
Sticky substance check
This was the first game that the Yankees were subjected to Major League Baseball's crackdown on sticky substances — the new checks began Monday, but the Yanks were off.
In the leadup to the crackdown, Cole essentially became the face of the issue since he's known for having a high spin rate, which is helped by sticky substances, and his vague answer to a question posed by a reporter recently about whether he had ever used Spider Tack.
There was some intrigue about how and when the umpires would check Cole. But after the top of the first inning, Cole went back to the dugout unchecked. Then after the top of the second, again he went unchecked. In both instances, he looked around waiting for umps to approach him, yet they never did.
Meanwhile Royals starter Brady Singer was checked after the bottom of the first.
But two umpires finally approached Cole after the top of the third. One examined his hat and glove, but not his belt buckle, then let Cole go.
Cole settles in
Cole got through the first two innings unscathed, but ran into trouble in the third. He yielded consecutive singles to Michael A. Taylor and Nicky Lopez. Taylor scored on Merrifield's RBI groundout to cut the Yankees' lead in half.
Then Cole surrendered a leadoff home run to O'Hearn in the fourth, which tied the game at 2.
But Cole returned to his dominant form after that, retiring nine consecutive batters until he walked Jorge Soler to start the seventh.
Cole struck out Kelvin Gutierrez and got Hunter Dozier to ground out before walking Taylor.
That brought Boone out of the dugout. After a conference on the mound, Boone left Cole in to face Lopez.
The decision worked.
Cole blew a 1-and-2 99-mph fastball up and away past Lopez, eliciting a roar from the crowd.
That was Cole's final batter.
Luke Voit makes big return
Voit returned from the injured list after missing 22 games with a right oblique strain.
He immediately made an impact.
Voit crushed the first pitch he saw in his first at-bat into the left-field stands for a solo home run that put the Yankees up by a run in the first inning.
He came through again in the seventh, hitting a long fly ball to the left-field wall off reliever Jake Brentz. Dyson leaped, but the ball went past his outstretched glove while a fan also interfered as Voit slid into third.
Third-base umpire Bill Miller immediately called for a review, and after two minutes and 12 seconds, they ruled it a triple.
Brentz then threw a wild pitch, allowing pinch-runner Tyler Wade to score, putting the Yankees up by a run, though not for long.
