For the second straight day, the Royals allowed a three-run lead to turn into a loss. This time, instead of losing it late, they saw the lead dissipate almost as quickly as they got it in a 12-7 defeat at the hands of the Yankees.
Reggie Sanders’ two-run homer and Emil Brown’s RBI double in the top of the first inning gave Kansas City starting pitcher Jeremy Affeldt a 3-0 lead before he threw his first pitch. However, it didn’t take him long to get into trouble. He started the inning by walking Johnny Damon and Derek Jeter. Gary Sheffield was next to the plate and cleared the bases with a game-tying home run. Affeldt put down Alex Rodriguez, Jason Giambi and Hideko Matsui in order, but the tone was set.
Affeldt allowed two more hits in the second inning but escaped without harm. The Yankees got to him in the third, when Jorge Posada singled in Rodriguez to break the 3-3 tie and give New York the lead.
Sheffield struck again in the fourth with an RBI single to score Damon. That was it for Affeldt (0-1) who allowed six runs, seven hits and four walks and was stuck with the loss. He struck out two batters. Jeter scored later in the fourth on a wild pitch from Jimmy Gobble to make it 6-3.
Mark Grudzielanek and Doug Mientkiewicz drove in runs with doubles in the fifth inning to cut the lead to 6-5, but that’s as close as they got the rest of the way. The Yankees countered with two more runs in the bottom of the fifth. New York scored in every inning but the second and the eighth.
Shawn Chacon (1-0) got the win after a six-inning performance which yielded five runs off seven hits.
