 as the Yankees took a 2-0 lead.Tauchman made it 5-0 with a three-run homer that easily cleared the right-center field fence. After Tauchman homered for the second straight game, LeMahieu hit his first homer of the season.Masahiro Tanaka (2-1) pitched seven innings of one-run ball. He took a shutout into the sixth before allowing a homer to Whit Merrifield to start the inning.Chris Owings homered in the ninth for Kansas City.GONZALEZ OPTS OUTLHP Gio Gonzalez opted out of his minor league contract with the Yankees, who have 48 hours to release him or add him to the major league roster. Gonzalez signed the deal with the Yankees in March that contained $3 million in base salary if he got added to the 40-man roster and a chance to get $9 million in performance bonuses by getting $300,000 per start. Gonzalez is 2-1 with a 6.00 ERA in three starts covering 15 innings at Triple-A. He has 19 strikeouts and six walks. He was supposed to pitch Friday but the game was rained out.TRAINER'S ROOMRoyals: LHP Danny Duffy (shoulder impingement syndrome) is scheduled to make a rehab start Saturday night for Double-A Northwest Arkansas. Before the game, GM Dayton Moore told reporters Duffy could return soon if his rehab start goes well. Duffy has been on the 10-day injured list all season and did not pitch in spring training.Yankees: C Gary Sanchez (left calf strain) will play in a minor league rehab game Monday. The Yankees have not determined where the game will take place. If Sanchez gets through the rehab game without any issues, Boone said he will fly to Anaheim on Tuesday and be activated Wednesday. . 3B Miguel Andujar (labrum tear in right shoulder) will head to the minor league facility in Tampa, Florida, on Monday. ... CF Brett Gardner had the day off after homering for the second time in three games Friday. Boone said he is hoping to get days off for INFs LeMahieu and Torres soon.UP NEXTLHP James Paxton starts Sunday afternoon for the Yankees. Paxton struck out 12 in eight innings Tuesday against Boston. RHP Jorge Lopez (0-2, 4.30 ERA) starts for Kansas City. Lopez struck out a career-high 10 hitters but allowed four runs on eight hits in six innings Tuesday against the Chicago White Sox.---More MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/-Sports)
Yankees face Royals, trying again to reach .500 The New York Yankees saw their offense vanish Thursday when they attempted to reach the .500 mark.Two days later, the Yankees will get another chance to reach the break-even mark when they continue a four-game series with the Kansas City Royals on Saturday afternoon at Yankee Stadium.The Yankees appeared poised to reach .500 on Thursday after two rousing wins over the Boston Red Sox. Instead, they struggled to do much off the Royals' Homer Bailey and tied a season low with one run and managed just four hits (all singles) in a 6-1 loss.The Yankees evened the series Friday when Brett Gardner and Mike Tauchman homered off Jakob Junis in a 6-2 victory as they improved to 9-10.New York continues to play short-handed with 12 players on the injured list. Of all the injured players, only catcher Gary Sanchez (groin) appears close to returning, though his return likely would not occur until some point on the upcoming West Coast trip."I feel like it's close," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said of Sanchez on Friday afternoon. "I don't have anything for you now, but I'm optimistic that we're real close to that." The Royals are 5-3 since losing 10 straight, and they hope to keep running in the right direction.Kansas City had three stolen bases Friday, upping its major-league-leading total to 24. However, the Royals were 2-for-10 with runners in scoring position, and they scored only once after opening the sixth with consecutive doubles."I think anytime you get a situation like that, you always feel like it's a missed opportunity," Royals manager Ned Yost said. "No, I don't feel any different than I would anytime we miss an opportunity. It's major league baseball, man, they got guys that are pitching on the other side that make it tough to accomplish those situations." After CC Sabathia pitched five innings for the Yankees on Friday, Masahiro Tanaka will be pitching on five days' rest for the third straight time when he starts Saturday. Tanaka took his first loss Sunday when he allowed a grand slam to Tim Anderson in the fourth inning and surrendered five runs in four-plus innings during a 5-2 loss to the Chicago White Sox.That outing snapped a modest five-game home unbeaten streak for Tanaka.The right-hander will be making his third career start against the Royals. He has allowed eight runs on 11 hits in 12 innings in a pair of no-decisions against the Royals that occurred during the 2016 season.Heath Fillmyer will make his third start of the season for the Royals after taking a pair of no-decisions while compiling a 9.00 ERA. He last pitched Monday in a 5-4 road loss to the White Sox when he allowed three runs and five hits in five innings.The right-hander's lone start against the Yankees occurred July 28, 2018, in the second game of a doubleheader. He gave up three runs on five hits in five innings in a no-decision during Kansas City's 5-4 loss.--Field Level Media
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