It was close until the 7 th inning. Then, the New York Yankees exploded for 4 runs and went on to down the Kansas City Royals 7-1 Wednesday night at Kauffman Stadium.
The Bronx Bombers got home runs from Melky Cabrera, his 5 th ; Hideki Matsui, his 18 th ; and Alex Rodriguez, his 35 th of the season and 499 th of his career.
Mike Mussina (5-7) gave up 1 earned run on 6 hits in 5 2/3 innings to earn the win. Kansas City starter Gil Meche (7-7) pitched well into the 8 th , going 7 1/3 innings, giving up 5 earned runs on 9 hits to take the loss.
The Royals (43-57) try to avoid the sweep of the four game series when they host the Yankees (54-46) again Thursday night at the K. Jorge De La Rosa (7-10) goes to the mound for Kansas City against Kei Igawa (2-2).