Coming off a perfect 6-0 homestand, the AL East-leading New York Yankees (13-7) head out on a six-game road trip on Friday. The first stop features three games against the Kansas City Royals (7-10), who sit in second place in the AL Central. Friday’s game at Kauffman Stadium starts at 8:10 p.m. ET on Apple TV.
The Yankees send LHP Nestor Cortes (0-0, 1.15)) to the mound on Friday against Royals LHP Kris Bubic (0-1, 14.14). These teams will meet again in July with four games at Yankee Stadium. Last year the Yankees won the series 4-2 with a 2-1 series road win, and they are 7-3 in the last 10 against the Royals, dating back to 2019.
Bats Get Going For Yankees
The bats finally got going for the Yankees on the homestand with sweeps of the Baltimore Orioles and Cleveland Guardians. New York scored 46 runs in the six games, with 14 home runs. Anthony Rizzo had a three-homer game against Baltimore and leads the Majors with eight on the season, while Joey Gallo finally hit his first homer of the campaign.
DJ Lemahieu leads the Yankees with a .313 average, and Rizzo is up to .290 with a team-leading 19 RBI. Aaron Judge had a multi-homer game on the homestand and now has five on the season to go with 10 RBI. Giancarlo Stanton is batting .243 with three homers and 13 RBI.
Cortes makes his fourth start of the season on Friday night. Against Cleveland, on Saturday, he allowed two runs and just one hit, a home run, but took a no-decision while striking out eight in 6 ⅓ innings. On the season, he’s allowed two earned runs in 15 ⅔ innings while striking out 25 and walking only three.
Cortes faced the Royals last August, allowing four earned runs on seven hits over 5 ⅔ innings in a loss. Hunter Dozier is 2-for-4 against him, while Salvador Perez has two home runs lifetime and Whit Merrifield is 2-for-6.
Royals Offense is Struggling
The Royals rallied to win in 10 innings at Chicago on Thursday, and they took two-of-three- from the White Sox after being swept by Seattle. The Royals are 5-5 at home this season and 1-2 against lefties. This will be their first game and series against a team from the Al East.
Andrew Benintendi is off to a great start for the Royals, batting .393 with a .925 OPS and a team-leading 10 RBI. Perez leads the team with five home runs, while Dozier has three. Merrifield is off to a slow start, batting .127, while Perez is batting .200 and rookie Bobby Witt Jr. is hitting .206
This will be Bubic’s fourth start of the season, and he’s only surpassed four innings once. Last time out, he allowed five runs on seven hits in two innings in a no-decision at Seattle. His best outing came against Detroit on April 16, allowing one run on two hits but walking six over 4 ⅓ innings.
Bubic has never faced the Yankees but has faced a handful of their hitters with other teams. Josh Donaldson is 3-for-11 against Bubic with two home runs, while Rizzo is 1-for-2, Marwin Gonzalez is 3-for-6, and Stanton is 0-for-1.
Betting Analysis
New York Yankees -1.5 (-120) Money line -195
Kansas City Royals +1.5 (+100) Money Line +165
Total Runs: 8 Over -130, Under +110
The Yankees are 4-1 against lefties, and the bats are on fire right now. They go up against a Royals team that has struggled to score runs and has a starting pitcher who has been knocked around so far this year. Look for the Yankees to make it seven wins in a row as they start their road trip in style.
FREE PICK: Yankees -1.5 (-120)
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