The New York Yankees complete the sweep of a weekend series with Kansas City, downing the Royals 8-5 Sunday afternoon at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx.
The Yankees jumped out to an early lead with 4 runs in the 2 nd inning, then added 1 in the 3 rd and another in the 4 th before the Royals managed to get on the scoreboard with a pair of runs in the top of the 6 th on a Ross Gload two-run homer, his 4 th roundtripper of the season. Hideki Matsui and Melky Cabrera homered for the Yankees.
With New York leading by 6 runs, Kansas City scored 2 in the 7 th and 1 in the 8 th to narrow the gap to three, but that was as close as it would get.
Mike Mussina (7-7) gave up 2 earned runs on 9 hits in 6 innings to pick up the win for the Yankees. Mariano Rivero pitched 1 1/3 innings to earn his 17 th save. Gil Meche (7-9) took the loss, allowing 6 earned runs on 6 hits in 4 innings.
The Royals (48-62) have an off day Monday before opening a three game series with the Minnesota Twins Tuesday night at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City. Brian Bannister (7-6) goes to the mound for KC against Minnesota’s Boof Bonser (5-7).
