The Royals ended a 78 series streak without a sweep yesterday by knocking off the Yankees 5-2 at Kauffman Stadium. Starting pitcher Ryan Jensen (2-1) held off New York for five innings, allowing two runs off four hits and the bullpen did the rest. Mike Wood, Andy Sisco, Leo Nunez and Ambiorix Burgos held the Yankees scoreless over the final four innings. Burgos allowed a hit and a walk in the ninth, but held on for his second save of the season.
Down 1-0 in the third inning, the Royals tied the game when Angel Berroa drove in Ruben Gotay with a double. Mark Teahen gave the Royal a 2-1 lead with an RBI single to score Mike Sweeney. Shane Costa made his major league debut on Thursday and drove in what proved to be the game winning run in the fourth when his grounder drove in Terrence Long. He finished 1-for-3 in his first game in the big leagues.
Matt Stairs and Long hit solo home runs in the sixth for the final runs of the game. It was home run number six for stairs and number two for Long.
The Royals sweep was their first since they took three straight from the Rangers in July 2003. It was the longest stretch without a sweep since the Phillies lost at least one game in 70 straight series from 1996-1997. The major league record is held by the Philadelphia A’s who were sweepless in 134 consecutive series from 1918-1922. The Royals hadn’t swept the Yankees in Kansas City since 1990.
With the win Buddy Bell joined Whitey Herzog as the only other Royals manager to win his first three games.
