Jazz Chisholm Jr. hit a game-winning infield single with one out in the 11th inning, leading the New York Yankees to a 4-3 win over the Kansas City Royals on Wednesday night.
Juan Soto hit a go-ahead home run in the sixth inning for the Yankees, who have now extended their lead in the AL East to 1 1/2 games ahead of Baltimore. New York has been leading since August 21 but hasn’t been ahead by more than two games during this time.
Just before Chisholm’s decisive hit, the Orioles lost 5-3 in 10 innings at Fenway Park, where Tyler O’Neill hit a walk-off home run for Boston.
Chisholm came up to bat with runners on first and third after Kris Bubic (0-1) intentionally walked Aaron Judge following a groundout by Soto that moved automatic runner Jon Berti from second to third base.
With the infield pulled in, Judge moved to second on a defensive play, and Chisholm hit a 2-1 slider towards shortstop. Bobby Witt Jr. made a diving stop but threw off-balance from his knees, and the throw was wide of the plate. Berti, who was pinch running, scored easily with a headfirst slide.
“Honestly, I was looking for a pitch that I could get through a hole or get to the outfield to score anybody on third base,” Chisholm said. “I was willing to pass the baton if I didn’t get a pitch to hit.”
Chisholm batted cleanup for the second time since joining the Yankees from the Miami Marlins on July 27. It was his first career walk-off hit, and he was celebrated with a water dousing by teammates near second base.
Luke Weaver (5-3) struck out three in 1 2/3 hitless innings to earn the win.
New York won two out of three games in the series between playoff contenders. Kansas City is now 4 1/2 games behind first-place Cleveland in the AL Central but holds the second wild card spot by 1 1/2 games over Minnesota.
“This is a big series win for us against a really good club over there that threw a lot of good pitching at us,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said.
The teams exchanged runs in the 10th inning. Royals pinch-runner Darion Blanco stole third base and scored on a wild pitch by Jake Cousins. In the bottom half, pinch-hitter Austin Wells evened the score with a sacrifice fly.
“It was a tense game,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said. “It was tight. It was well pitched on both sides.”
Juan Soto hit a two-run homer off Cole Ragans to give the Yankees a 2-1 lead in the sixth inning, just two pitches after fouling a ball off his right ankle. Soto was in pain but continued after being checked by head athletic trainer Tim Lentych.
After fouling off another pitch, he hit a 402-foot drive to right field.
“You really get mad when you hit yourself,” Soto said. “It’s just the way it goes. I’m not mad at the pitcher or anything. Just mad at myself, but when you come through like that, it just feels a little relief.”
Soto said he felt pain when he hit the home run but was feeling better after the game. “He’s got that theatric thing down pretty good here,” Boone said.
In the seventh inning, Salvador Perez hit a sacrifice fly off Clay Holmes to tie the game and then made a great defensive play to end the inning.
With runners on first and second, Jose Trevino hit a high bounce to first base, and Perez managed to tag Trevino on the back of his jersey. Perez then quickly threw to catcher Freddy Fermin to get Anthony Volpe out at the plate.
Kansas City challenged the safe call at first base, which was overturned after a brief review.
Ragans allowed two runs and three hits over six innings, striking out seven and taking the lead in the American League for strikeouts, moving ahead of Detroit’s Tarik Skubal.
“I don’t think that they’re any better than us,” Ragans said. “We believe in ourselves. I think we’re a good team. We’re a playoff team. They’re a good team, they’re a playoff team. It’s a good matchup, it was a good three games.”
