Royals at Yankees
Salvador Perez carried a nine-game hitting streak into last week's home series against the Yankees, only to go 1-for-10 as the Kansas City Royals dropped two of three to New York at Kauffman Stadium. Perez's one hit was a two-run homer off Michael Pineda, and the two will meet again on Monday as Kansas City opens a four-game set at Yankee Stadium.
Perez, who is batting .391 with two homers in his career against Pineda, got back in the swing of things by tying a franchise record with three homers in a series-ending doubleheader against Minnesota on Sunday. Kansas City split those encounters against the Twins and has dropped four of six since a season high-tying four-game win streak. While the Royals are tied with Oakland for the fewest road wins (six), the Yankees boast a 13-6 mark at home - with that loss total serving as the second-fewest in the league behind only Baltimore (four). Brett Gardner, who is batting a blistering .359 over his last 20 games, went deep for the eighth time in that stretch on Sunday as New York snapped a three-game skid by salvaging the finale of its series with Tampa Bay.
TV: 7:05 p.m. ET, FSN Kansas City, YES (New York)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Royals LH Jason Vargas (5-2, 2.03 ERA) vs. Yankees RH Michael Pineda (4-2, 3.42)
Vargas matched the sum total of his season by allowing six runs in Wednesday's 11-7 loss to fall to 0-6 with a 7.15 ERA in 10 career appearances (nine starts) against the Yankees. The 34-year-old permitted a three-run homer to Aaron Hicks as part of a five-run fourth, accounting for just the second time he's been taken deep in 48 2/3 innings this campaign. Prior to Wednesday's letdown, Vargas yielded a total of seven hits while recording back-to-back scoreless outings.
Pineda posted his third straight quality start in Wednesday's victory over the Royals and benefited from his team's power surge to overcome tying his season-high run total. The 28-year-old Dominican allowed two homers for the third time in his last five starts, with Mike Moustakas joining Perez in going deep on two occasions in their respective careers versus Pineda. The hurler traditionally has gotten the better of both Alex Gordon (.182) and Alcides Escobar (.174) en route to posting a 4-5 mark with a 3.95 ERA in nine career outings against Kansas City.
WALK-OFFS
1. New York SS Didi Gregorius, who went 4-for-4 on Sunday, was 5-for-11 with three RBIs and four runs scored in last week's series with Kansas City.
2. Royals 1B Eric Hosmer went 7-for-13 with five runs scored in the last three games and is 20-for-49 in his last 11 road contests.
3. Yankees RF Aaron Judge went 5-for-12 in the series versus Kansas City and had extended his hitting streak to eight games before striking out in all four at-bats on Sunday.