Aaron Judge homered for the first of his three hits, Gary Sánchez connected for the second straight game and the New York Yankees beat the Kansas City Royals 8-1 Thursday.
Judge got the Yankees started with a solo shot in the first, Luke Voit had another in the third and Sánchez blew the game open with a three-run drive in the sixth.
Brad Keller (6-8) allowed four runs in five innings for Kansas City. Keller walked four and allowed nine hits, including the homers by Judge and Voit.
Royals pitchers walked five Thursday and combined to issue 24 free passes during the three-game series.
Salvador Pérez was the Royals’ designated hitter as planned a day after taking a foul tip off his mask. Pérez had a headache and later left Wednesday’s game, but it was determined he did not have a concussion.
LHP Mike Minor (6-4, 4.48) is set to pitch for the Royals at Texas tonight for the first time since the Rangers traded him away last season, 7:05 first pitch.
First place White Sox lead second place Cleveland by two games, the third place Royals are 10 1/2 out.