Image credit: AP Photo/Frank Franklin II

Behind a two-run lead, the Royals took game two from the Yankees in the American League Divisional Series. It was a win in all facets for Kansas City. The Royals sent their ace, Cole Ragans, to the mound and he did just enough to give his team a chance. He worked around poor command for much of the night, walking the leadoff batter in three of his four innings pitched. Two outs followed the leadoff walk in the third inning, but the Yankees were able to break through. Singles from Austin Wells and Giancarlo Stanton gave New York an early one-run lead.

The Royals answered quickly. Salvador Perez entered the night with a career 1.327 OPS against Yankees starter, Carlos Rodón. That made it no surprise when Perez broke through with a leadoff home run in the top of the fourth inning. It marked the first RBI of the series for Perez and seemed just the kickstart that the Kansas City offense needed on the night. Yuli Gurriel reached on a single in the next at-bat and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Two batters later, outfielder Tommy Pham singled home Gurriel to give the Royals the lead. From there, the offense kept the line moving. Garrett Hampson and Maikel Garcia each singled in a run to make it a four-run fourth inning.

In the bottom of the inning, Cole Ragans worked around a lead-off walk once again. By the end of the inning, Ragans had reached 87 pitches — only 49 for strikes. He scattered four strikeouts alongside three walks but did enough to give the Royals a chance. From there, Ragans handed it over to the bullpen who got back on track following a bumpy game one. The win fell to lefty Angel Zerpa, who pitched a scoreless fifth inning without allowing a hit. The quartet of Zerpa, John Schreiber, Kris Bubic, and Lucas Erceg combined to allow just one run over five innings of work. The lone run came on a ninth-inning solo home run from Jazz Chisholm Jr. against Erceg. Erceg’s save gives him three in this year’s postseason, marking one for each of the team’s three wins thus far.

A return to Kansas City is in the cards for Wednesday’s Game Three

With the series now split at one game apiece, the Royals have guaranteed themselves two home playoff games. Wednesday’s contest will mark the first playoff game in Kauffman Stadium since October 28, 2015. That game, of course, was Game Two of the 2015 World Series, a game the Royals won 7 to 1. This time around, the Royals will send starter Seth Lugo to the mound. Lugo finished the season with a 7-6 record at home. He pitched to a 3.36 ERA in 17 home contests.

Lugo also made appearances in both series against the Yankees in the regular season. He struck out 14 New York batters with just one walk in the two contests combined. In the two starts, Lugo owned a 2.57 ERA. The Yankees are set to send right-hander Clarke Schmidt. Fantastic over 16 starts this year, Schmidt pitched to a 2.85 regular season ERA with a 26.3% strikeout rate. He did not face the Royals in either series of 2024.