By MATT PIKE
St. Joseph Post
A late home run by Giancarlo Stanton gave the New York Yankees the lead for good as the Kansas City Royals fell 3-2 in Game 3 of the ALDS, the first playoff game at Kauffman Stadium since 2015.
Stanton was also responsible for giving the Yankees their first lead of the game, hitting an RBI double in the fourth inning driving in Juan Soto. New York extended the lead in the fifth with a sacrifice fly by Soto scoring Anthony Volpe.
Kansas City rallied with two outs in the bottom of the fifth. Adam Frazier beat out a throw from Volpe on a hard grounder for a single, with a 3-2 count on Kyle Isbel, Frazier ran on the pitch as Isbel doubled into left field, allowing Frazier to come home and score. Isbel later scored when Michael Massey hit a line drive to right field, narrowly missed by a diving Soto, for a triple, tying the game up at 2-2.
Angel Zerpa, John Schreiber, Sam Long, and Brady Singer combined to throw two scoreless innings before manager Matt Quatraro called on Kris Bubic to pitch in the eighth inning. Bubic struck out Austin Wells opening the inning, but then gave up the home run to Stanton who was facing a 3-1 count.
The Royals lone scoring opportunity came in the bottom of the eighth after singles by Bobby Witt Jr and Salvador Perez, but Yuli Gurriel flew out to center fielder Aaron Judge to end the threat.
Bubic took the loss pitching one inning and striking out one, walking two, the lone hit he gave up being the home run. Massey, Witt Jr, Perez, Gurriel, Frazier, and Isbel each had one hit.
Now the attention for the Royals will turn to a do or die Game 4 on Thursday in Kansas City. Entering this season, there have been 62 instances in postseason history of a best-of-5 series being tied at 1-1, according to Elias. The team that won Game 3 has won the series 45 times (72.3%), that means 17 times out of 62 (27.4%), the team that lost Game 3 after being tied in a best-of-5 postseason series has come back to win, something the Royals have done once before, in the 2015 American League Division Series vs. Houston
The Game 1 starters will face each other again in Game 4, with Michael Wacha starting for the Royals and Gerrit Cole starting for the Yankees.
"All hands will be on deck,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said. “You have to put everything out there to try to stave off elimination. But we have Wacha going, we have a ton of confidence in him, so we're going to approach it like a regular game but understand what the gravity of the situation is.”
Wacha didn’t factor into the decision in Game 1, when he allowed three runs across four innings on Saturday at Yankee Stadium. He walked three and said after the game that his command was a little off. Quatraro ended up pulling Wacha after four innings and 70 pitches before he faced Juan Soto for a third time.
"I just want to go out there and win the ballgame,” Wacha said before Game 3. “Whether it's a clinching game or it's an elimination game, it's a must-win in my mind either way. I want to go out there and give our guys a chance to win a ballgame just like any other start throughout the season. And this one is no different. Want to get out there, hopefully go deep, and give our guys a chance to win a ballgame."
Cole gets another crack at the Royals after he was touched for four runs (three earned) and seven hits across five-plus innings in the Yankees' 6-5 Game 1 victory. The AL's reigning Cy Young Award winner, Cole pitched to an 8-5 record and 3.41 ERA in 17 starts this season, not making his debut until June due to right elbow inflammation. Cole is 10-6 with a 3.05 ERA in 18 career postseason starts.
"I’m looking to sharpen up some of the things that kind of hurt us, and looking to continue just to be as efficient as possible and give our team the best chance to win,” Cole said.
The Royals and Yankees will face off in Game 4 with first pitch at 7:08 tonight, pregame will air at 6:30 on KFEQ (680AM/95.3FM). It can be seen on TBS, truTV and Max.