Royals 4, Yankees 3
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Mike Moustakas homered and drove in three runs, matching his career high, as the Kansas City Royals beat the New York Yankees 4-3 Thursday night at Kauffman Stadium.
It was the Royals' first home victory this season after a 0-10 homestand in April.
The Yankees had more to worry about than a three-game losing streak. Closer Mariano Rivera twisted his right knee while shagging fly balls in batting practice and had to be carted from field. He was taken to a hospital for an MRI, but the results were not known.
The Yankees' offense, which has been limited to six combined runs in the past four games, continued to struggle against Royals starter Danny Duffy and four relief pitchers.
Duffy, who was pitching for the first time in 11 days after missing a start with a sore elbow, gave up two runs on six hits in 5 1/3 innings. He struck out six and walked two. Duffy was 1-8 with a 5.55 ERA in 11 career home starts before beating New York.
The Yankees trimmed the Royals' lead to one run in the seventh when Mark Teixeira's sacrifice fly scored Derek Jeter.
Jeter, who had four hits to raise his average to .404, led off the ninth with a single, and Jonathan Broxton walked Curtis Granderson. Teixeira, however, grounded into a double play, and Alex Rodriguez grounded out to end the game. Broxton logged his five save in six opportunities.
Moustakas gave the Royals a 1-0 lead with his fourth home run in the second inning. The Yankees tied it in the third when Jeter stroked his 500th career double and scored on Teixeira's two-out double.
The Royals regained the lead in the bottom of the third when Jarrod Dyson, Billy Butler and Eric Hosmer singled off David Phelps. Hosmer, who was in a 1-for-24 skid, singled home Dyson.
Phelps, making his first big-league start, left after 85 pitches and four innings, allowing two runs on six hits, while striking out five and walking none.
Moustakas stroked a two-run, two-out fifth-inning single off D.J. Mitchell as the Royals hiked their lead to 4-1.
The Yankees got a run back in the sixth and chased Duffy. Eduardo Nunez's sacrifice fly scored Robinson Cano, who had singled with one out and moved to third on Andruw Jones' single.
Notes: The Yankees put Eric Chavez on the seven-day concussion disabled list. Chavez suffered whiplash and had concussion symptoms after diving for J.J. Hardy's double in the fifth inning Wednesday in the loss to the Orioles. "No one really knows. Those (concussions) you can't predict how long he'll be out. No one really knows," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "When I talked to him this morning, he said he felt like he had been in an accident. He was sore a little bit. He was much clearer than when I saw him last night. He was a little foggy last night. Hopefully, this is quick and we'll get him back after seven days." ... The Yankees purchased the contract of Jayson Nix from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, where he was hitting .233 in eight games, to replace Chavez on the roster and started him in left field. It was only Nix's 12th outfield start in 233 games playing in the field in the majors. He is a career .207 in parts of four seasons in the majors. ... Teixeira batted in the third slot for only the second time this season. ... Yankees right fielder Nick Swisher missed his fourth straight game with a strained left hamstring. ... The Royals placed Yuniesky Betancourt on the disabled list with a sprained right ankle. They promoted utility player Irving Falu, who had played 949 minor league games over 10 years, from Class AAA Omaha, where he was hitting .306.
