Yankees get short start from Carlos Rodon, fall to Royals in ALDS Game 2

A myriad of reasons have kept the Yankees from reaching the World Series since 2009, but one in particular has played an outsized role in those October failures.

Hitting with runners on base, especially with runners in scoring position.

That was masked to a degree in a back-and-forth Game 1 of the Division Series against the Royals, in large part because Kansas City pitchers issued eight walks. But it could not be overcome Monday night, and as a result, the Yankees are not guaranteed to play another home game this season.

Now they will have to win at least one game at what will be a loud and hostile Kauffman Stadium after mounting little offense against Cole Ragans and four Royals relievers in a 4-2 loss in Game 2 in front of 48,034 at the Stadium. It tied this ALDS at one game apiece, with Game 3 on Wednesday night in Kansas City.

The Yankees, who went 2-for-13 with runners in scoring position and stranded  11 runners on Saturday night, went 1-for-6 with eight stranded on Monday.  They were outhit 11-7 by the Royals, with two of the Yankees' hits coming in the bottom of the ninth.

Jazz Chisholm Jr. led off the ninth against Lucas Erceg with a home run, but Anthony Volpe and Alex Verdugo grounded out before Jon Berti contributed a two-out single to right. With the tying run at the plate and  the crowd as loud as it had been all night, Gleyber Torres grounded a first-pitch, 99-mph sinker to short to end it. 

The Yankees have drawn 13 walks in the two games but have not been able to take advantage.

Eight Yankees pitchers struck out 15 Royals in Game 2 -- with the seven relievers allowing no runs, four hits and two walks with eight strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings -- but one big inning proved to be the difference.

After dominating the first three innings, Carlos Rodon took a 1-0 lead into the fourth but did not get out of the inning, charged with four runs as the Royals strung together quality at-bat after quality at-bat. Rodon allowed seven hits, including a tying homer by Salvador Perez, in 3 2/3 innings in which he struck out seven.

Ragans, who went 11-9 with a 3.14 ERA in the regular season, allowed one run, three hits and four walks in four innings, striking out five. Angel Zerpa, John Schreiber and Kris Bubic kept the Yankees in check until Chisholm's leadoff homer in the ninth, which had the sellout crowd roaring for the first time since the Yankees took a 1-0 lead in the third on Giancarlo Stanton’s RBI single.

The Yankees had a chance to go ahead against Ragans in the bottom of the first, but a promising start fizzled out. Torres and Juan Soto walked to begin the inning, but Aaron Judge and Austin Wells struck out and  Stanton shattered his bat on a groundout to second to end the 24-pitch inning.

Ragans issued his third walk, to Torres leading off the third, and this time the Yankees capitalized, though not right away. After Soto struck out and Judge flied to the warning track in right, Wells slashed a single to left and Stanton hit a rocket one-hopper to short. AL MVP candidate Bobby Witt Jr. failed to make the stop, with the ball trickling into left for an RBI single that made it 1-0.

The lead did not last long. Perez, familiar with Rodon from their time together in the AL Central (when the pitcher was with the White Sox), teed off on a 2-and-0 slider and blasted it over the leftfield wall, improving to 13-for-28 with four homers against Rodon.

Yuli Gurriel flared a single to left and went to second on a wild pitch. Rodon fell behind Michael Massey 3-and-0 before striking him out swinging at a full-count slider, but Tommy Pham sliced a 1-and-2 slider into the gap in right-center for an RBI single that made it 2-1. With Hunter Renfroe up – and Ian Hamilton warming for the Yankees – Pham stole second. Rodon struck out Renfroe on a full-count changeup but Garrett Hampson roped a full-count slider to left for an RBI single and  a 3-1 lead, ending Rodon’s night after 72 pitches.

 Hampson took second on Verdugo’s ill-advised throw home – he didn’t have a realistic chance at throwing him out – and that proved important when Maikel Garcia (four hits) jumped on a first-pitch slider from Ian Hamilton for an RBI single to right that made it 4-1.

Neither of the top two American League MVP candidates has performed at that level at the plate through two games. Judge is 1-for-7 with an infield single, two walks and four strikeouts. Wtt is 0-for-10 with four strikeouts.