Unlike hockey teams, few baseball clubs have captains.
Two of them that do, the New York Yankees and Kansas City Royals, showed why Sunday.
Despite being mired in slumps, the Yankees’ Aaron Judge and the Royals’ Salvador Perez came through in the clutch, leading their teams to victories.
The Yankees and Royals open a three-game series Monday in Kansas City.
Judge, the winner of back-to-back American League MVP awards, entered the ninth inning Sunday in a 5-for-38 slump and hadn’t hit a homer or driven in a run in 11 consecutive games.
Judge’s two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth off Tampa Bay’s Kevin Kelly gave the Yankees a 2-0 victory against the American League East-leading Rays, snapping a three-game losing streak.
“It’s a special moment. The guys know how much of a grind this season is,” Judge said. “I know how much they were grinding all game today; a lot of great at-bats up and down that lineup. I liked what I was seeing all game long, so I think a lot of guys were just really able to pull that one out.
“I’m glad we were able to come up with that win there and we’re on our way to Kansas City.”
Yankees manager Aaron Boone had predicted “somebody will pay the price real soon” for Judge’s slump.
His teammates didn’t seem worried, either.
“It really always feels like a matter of time,” Cody Bellinger said. “This game is so difficult, and he’s literally one of the best hitters of all time. It was just a short little period, but he’s always trying and working.”
Meanwhile, Perez entered Sunday’s game against visiting Seattle batting just .202 and was hitless in his previous 14 at-bats with runners in scoring position, dropping his average in those situations to .143.
With two outs and two runners on base in the fifth inning, the Mariners elected to walk Vinnie Pasquantino intentionally to load the bases with a 1-0 lead. Perez scorched a two-run single into left field and later added an RBI single as the Royals won 8-6.
Kansas City has won its last two games following a 1-10 stretch.
“I always want moments like that,” Perez said after going 3-for-4 with three RBIs in the cleanup spot. “Been doing that from my first time in the big leagues. I just get excited. I try to help my team to win.”
Added Royals manager Matt Quatraro: “We believe in him, and I know it’s been a hard start to the year for him offensively overall, but the guy can do it, man. He can come through in big moments. He’s getting on those fastballs. We’ve seen signs of it this week. To get those results today in big spots was really important, obviously, for us. And I’m sure he takes a little extra pride after the intentional walk. He’s been doing this for so long.”
Monday’s series opener is set to feature a pair of right-handers in the Yankees’ Will Warren (6-1, 3.61 ERA) and the Royals’ Michael Wacha (4-2, 2.70).
Warren is coming off a 5-4 victory Tuesday against visiting Toronto in which he allowed three runs on six hits in five innings. He already has a win under his belt against Kansas City this season, a 13-4 victory April 18 in the Bronx when he had a season-high 11 strikeouts over seven innings of two-run ball.
Wacha didn’t get a decision Wednesday in a 4-3 loss against Boston despite giving up just two runs (one earned) in six innings with a season-high eight strikeouts. He also didn’t get a decision in a 4-2 defeat to the host Yankees on April 17 despite a quality start (six innings, two runs on three) that left him with a career mark of 2-2 with a 3.12 ERA in 13 appearances (11 starts) against New York.
–Field Level Media
