KANSAS CITY, Mo. _ Soaring home runs by Gary Sanchez and Chris Carter provided a comfortable lead, but CC Sabathia's start gave the Yankees something they truly needed.
And quickly.
After four straight clunkers, Sabathia tossed into the seventh inning on Tuesday night, slowing down the improving Royals and driving the Yankees toward a 7-1 victory at Kauffman Stadium.
Before the game, manager Joe Girardi pledged his support to Sabathia, believing the veteran lefty would self-correct from the 9.58 he'd posted since April 21.
On a warm, breezy night before 30,878 fans, Sabathia tossed 62/3 scoreless innings and gave the Yankees (23-13) a well-timed booster shot for a flagging rotation.
"I've seen him struggle before and he turns it around," Girardi said earlier on Tuesday. "There's been a lot of years he's had a really rough April and he turns it around in May."
Sabathia (3-2) was aided by reliever Tyler Clippard, who entered with the bases loaded and struck out No. 9 hitter Whit Merrifield to end the seventh, preserving a six-run lead.
The 36-year-old lefty used only 85 pitches and seemed upset as Girardi came out to change pitchers, but Sabathia silently handed the ball to his applauding manager and watched Clippard go to work.
It was Sabathia's 20th win against the Royals, and he joined Detroit's Justin Verlander and Atlanta's Bartolo Colon as the only active pitchers with at least 20 wins against multiple opponents.
And the Royals (16-22) had won four straight games and six of their last seven entering Tuesday night, having just swept the second-place (AL East) Orioles.
Sanchez clubbed his third homer of the year, a three-run shot to center in the third, following a leadoff single by Carter and a Brett Gardner walk.
In the fourth, Didi Gregorius singled with two out and Carter _ batting in the No. 9 spot _ lofted a towering fly to center that carried over the fence for a 5-0 lead.
Batting an even .200 entering Tuesday, Carter hadn't homered since April 22, his first of the year _ an important, pinch-hit go-ahead shot that won a game at Pittsburgh.
Both Yankee homers came against Royals right-hander Jason Hammel (1-5), who gave up five runs in six innings and has struggled in the early going.
Hammel gave up nine hits and a walk and did not strike out a batter. Sabathia gave up just five hits and two walks.
Over his first three starts of the year, Sabathia went 2-0 with a 1.47 ERA, feeding the notion that he'd officially turned into a finesse pitcher after possessing a power arsenal in his prime.
One reason for his recent struggles was the missing feel of Sabathia's cutter.
"He was the reason we won a couple of those games when we were struggling (as a team)," Girardi said of Sabathia. "He just needs to get his cutter back on track and he'll be OK."
Third baseman Chase Headley had to make a circus catch of a bullet liner by leadoff man Alcides Escobar to start the first inning, and Didi Gregorius made a sprawling catch of Salvador Perez's liner in the second.
But Sabathia was getting quick outs and not facing many deep counts, yielding just three hits through the first six innings.
Jacoby Ellsbury had an RBI single in the seventh, and Matt Holliday's RBI groundout made it 7-0 in the eighth against Kansas City's bullpen. By then, the Yanks had more or less rebounded after dropping three of four to the AL West leading Astros over the weekend.
Girardi figured he'd know quickly on Tuesday how things would go for Sabathia.
"(The cutter) is a huge pitch for him," Girardi said. "So, it's something we have to get going early."
