NEW YORK _ Bronx cheers aren't meant to be pleasant, and for most of Saturday, they rained down at Yankee Stadium as the Yankees appeared headed for a demoralizing doubleheader loss to the lowly Kansas City Royals.
After a struggling Luis Severino was booed off the mound in a 10-5 loss in Game 1, newly acquired Zach Britton was subjected to the fans' ire when he walked home the go-ahead run in the seventh inning of Game 2.
But Greg Bird began the eighth with a home run that tied the score, and after the Yankees loaded the bases with none out on Neil Walker's double, Austin Romine's bunt single and a walk, Aaron Hicks' sacrifice fly produced the go-ahead run in a 5-4 win. With runners on first and third in the ninth, Aroldis Chapman struck out Whit Merrifield to earn his 27th save.
After Game 2, the Yankees announced that they had acquired first baseman Luke Voit and international signing bonus pool money from the Cardinals in exchange for lefthander Chasen Shreve and right-hander Giovanny Gallegos.
Britton got the first two outs in the seventh, but Hunter Dozier doubled and went to third on Brian Goodwin's infield hit. Britton then walked Alcides Escobar and Drew Butera on eight pitches to give the Royals a 4-3 lead.
Starting in 2017, CC Sabathia was 12-0 in 19 regular-season starts after a Yankee loss. He brought a 3-1 lead into the fifth, courtesy of Shane Robinson's solo homer in the fourth.
The Yankees scored twice in the first on Miguel Andujar's RBI single and a sacrifice fly by Walker, who went 5-for-7 in the doubleheader. KC's Salvador Perez homered in the third.
Sabathia struck out eight in 42/3 innings. The Royals loaded the bases against him with one out in the fifth, and after Jorge Bonifacio struck out, Lucas Duda drew a walk to force home the second run. Jonathan Holder then struck out Dozier for the final out. Chad Green allowed a two-out RBI single by Rosell Herrera in the sixth.
There was an angst-filled moment in the fifth when Sabathia took a tumble, with his delicate knees hitting the ground, as he tried to field Herrera's grounder between the mound and first base. Sabathia stayed down for a moment, returned to the mound to throw some test pitches, and remained in the game.
The victory could not gloss over Severino's rough outing in the afternoon game. Incredibly, Sonny Gray has been the Yankees' most reliable starter since the All-Star break. That's not supposed to happen on a staff that has Severino. But the ace is in a hole, and the implications extend far beyond his latest loss.
Severino has had four straight subpar performances _ he allowed 16 earned runs and 28 hits in 141/3 innings in the last three _ and the Yankees increasingly face the prospect of remaining in wild-card territory, a fate they fervently want to avoid. Talk of catching the first-place Red Sox has been muted. Beginning with the games of June 22, the Yankees have gone 16-15 to Boston's 23-7, turning a two-game lead into a 5{-game deficit.
Severino left with a 6-0 deficit and to boos as he failed to make it out of the fifth. He's 14-4 with a 2.94 ERA, but he brought a 1.98 ERA into his July 7 start.
Aaron Boone knows the season may hinge on correcting whatever problems are plaguing him. "We gotta find the right adjustments in there to help him get back on track," the manager said. "It seemed like he just kinda got a little out of sorts there and lost his command, especially with the fastball a little bit and got hurt with some pitches right on the plate. So this is a bump in the season for him, but he has everything to right the ship and we gotta find those little adjustments he can make and get him rolling again."
Herrera's two-run double in the third gave the Royals a 2-0 lead. With runners on second and third and one out in the fifth, Severino got ahead of Perez 0-and-2, but four pitches later, Perez lined a misplaced fastball for a two-run single to center. Former Met Lucas Duda followed with a two-run homer for a 6-0 lead. "I guess it has to start with fastball command," Romine said. "I was trying to reiterate to him stay down in the zone."
With two outs in the fifth, Giancarlo Stanton hit a two-run homer off an awning well above the loading dock to the left-field side of Monument Park. It was measured at 447 feet.
In the sixth, Walker singled home a run and Bird scored when Romine hit into a double play. The Yankees made it 6-5 in the seventh, but it also was the inning that took the air out of the rally. Didi Gregorius led off with a single and Gleyber Torres doubled off the right-center-field wall, but Torres tried to advance to third on the throw to the plate and easily was thrown out by Perez. It broke a cardinal rule of not making the first out at third and sabotaged the rally.
"Obviously, in that situation there with no outs and us kinda coming back in that spot, you know, that definitely hurt and definitely was a mistake," Boone said. "I like the fact that he's in position to make a read, but it wasn't the right read."
Brian Goodwin's three-run homer off David Robertson gave the Royals a 9-5 lead and Duda added a sacrifice fly in the ninth.
