New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone on Tuesday watched the hits begin to pile up on the massive, crown-shaped scoreboard beyond the center field wall at Kauffman Stadium, and he knew that his team was doing something impressive against the Kansas City Royals.
He did not know until afterward that it was something historic.
There were six home runs, including two from Amed Rosario, and the Yankees put up 24 hits in the 15-1 romp, their most since a game against the Baltimore Orioles in July 2011.
Photo: AFP
What set the performance apart from all others — including all those games played by greats Lou Gehrig, Babe Ruth, Joe DiMaggio and Mickey Mantle — was that for the first time in their storied history, the Yankees got at least two hits from every single player in their starting lineup.
“I did see all the hits on the board, and I was like: ‘Man, you don’t see that very often,’” Boone said afterward.
The Yankees had the benefit of facing the Royals on a designated bullpen day. Struggling reliever Bailey Falter was first on the mound, and he allowed as many hits (seven) as he recorded outs. Luinder Avila was not much better when he replaced him.
Photo: AP
The last of the hits came off outfielder Tyler Tolbert, who threw a steady diet of 44mph (70.8kph) pitches to get through the ninth inning.
That did not take away from one of the most impressive hitting performances in Yankees history. Their hit total tied for their eighth-most ever, and the 24 hits were their most in a road game since Aug. 31, 1974, in a game against the Chicago White Sox.
The six homers were the most by a team in the majors this season.
The Yankees have hit 82 home runs this season, by far the most in the majors.
In Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Brewers manager Pat Murphy called the antics of reliever Abner Uribe after an inning-ending strikeout in a 6-0 victory over the St Louis Cardinals unacceptable.
Uribe got Alec Burleson on a called third strike with two outs and runners on first and second in the eighth, the only inning he pitched. Uribe then made three WWE-style crotch chops while facing the Cardinals dugout.
The Cardinals challenged the call, which was close, but it was narrowly confirmed to be at the bottom of the strike zone.
“I don’t know what got over him. I mean, he’s been an emotional guy, but that kind of things, that’s just not how we do things,” Murphy said. “I was embarrassed by it. Why are we doing it? It’s a 6-0 game. What are we doing there?”
Murphy said he talked with Uribe, adding how close the pitch was to being overturned and the possible ramifications.
“The thing that I think about is if that challenge got overturned, you’ve got to reset and go back out there and pitch,” Murphy said. “This is Major League Baseball. Guys can reset, boom, base hit, dumper, homer and all of a sudden it’s 6-5.”
Elsewhere, the Los Angeles Dodgers rocked the Colorado Rockies 15-6, the Pittsburgh Pirates plundered the Chicago Cubs 12-1, the Orioles overpowered the Tampa Bay Rays 6-1 and the Texas Rangers snapped a four-game losing streak with a 10-7 romp over the Houston Astros.
The Seattle Mariners beat the Athletics 4-1, the Cincinnati Reds defeated the New York Mets 7-2, the Toronto Blue Jays blew past the Miami Marlins 8-1 and the Atlanta Braves survived the Boston Red Sox 7-6.
The Philadelphia Phillies held on to beat the San Diego Padres 4-1, the Washington Nationals never trailed in their 6-3 victory over the Cleveland Guardians, the Los Angeles Angels caged the Detroit Tigers 10-6, the Minnesota Twins needed 11 innings to defeat the White Sox 5-3 and the Arizona Diamondbacks earned their fifth consecutive win over the San Francisco Giants, 7-5.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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