Teixeira, Yankees send Royals on first three-game skid since August
Two is a string, but three is a streak.
For the first time this season -- and the first since Aug. 31 of last year -- the Royals have a three-game losing streak, courtesy of their 5-1 loss to the Yankees on Tuesday night.
Prior to this current three-game skid, the Royals had lost two consecutive games on three separate occasions this season. But each time, they won the next game. That didn't happen Tuesday night.
Thanks to New York starter Adam Warren, the Kansas City bats fell quiet again. The Royals mustered only one run for the third straight game as five Royals went hitless, including Salvador Perez's 0-for-3 night with three strikeouts.
Kansas City ended last August on a four-game losing streak, the last stretch of at least three straight losses. Once September started, the Royals won their next four on their way to a playoff berth.
3 UP
• Vargas returns. Jason Vargas returned from a stint on the disabled list with a left flexor strain to toss four innings of two-run ball. Vargas was victimized by Mark Teixeira's two-run home run in the first inning, but allowed just three other hits.
The left-hander struck out six Yankees and walked one before running into his pitch limit. Vargas threw 76 pitches.
• Orlando goes yard. Rookie outfielder Paulo Orlando cracked his first career home run, shooting a line drive over the right-center-field wall. Orlando slashed a 95-mph fastball from Warren into the bleachers in the sixth inning.
Orlando, who spent parts of 10 seasons in the minor leagues, made his major league debut this season and burst onto the scene with five triples. It took until his 103rd career at-bat to hit his first dinger.
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• Cain's catch. Lorenzo Cain made a leaping grab against the center-field fence, robbing Carlos Beltran of extra bases (if not a home run) in the fifth inning. Beltran lofted a deep flyball off Joe Blanton to center, where Cain drifted back and jumped at the wall to snare the ball.
It was just another spectacular play made by Cain to end the inning.
3 DOWN
• A rare error. Despite his sparkling catch in center field, not everything went Cain's way. Earlier in the fifth inning, he committed an error on Teixeira's double to right-center, allowing Teixeira to rumble to third.
One batter later, Chase Headley drove in Teixeira with a sacrifice fly to left. The error was Cain's third of the season.
• Early-inning woes. For the third straight game, Royals starting pitching gave up first-inning runs. Yordano Ventura yielded two runs against St. Louis on Sunday, while Jeremy Guthrie gave up eight runs in Monday's opening frame against New York.
Vargas served up Teixeira's two-run homer Tuesday night. Royals pitchers have now given up 25 runs in the first inning, trailing only the second inning (29) for most runs allowed.
• Chances with RISP. Kansas City managed only two at-bats with runners in scoring position, tied for its second-lowest output of the season. The Royals had only one opportunity with RISP against Detroit on May 2 and only two Sunday against St. Louis.
Both chances came in the ninth inning against Yankees closer Andrew Miller. With runners on first and second, Eric Hosmer struck out and Kendrys Morales flew out to right field to end the game. Kansas City has two hits with RISP in its last three games, all losses.
WHAT'S NEXT
Wednesday's series finale in New York will bring a rematch between Kansas City's Chris Young and the Yankees' Michael Pineda. On May 15, Young outlasted Pineda in a 12-1 Royals victory.
Kansas City tagged Pineda for five runs in a season-low 5 1/3 innings. The Royals also knocked a season-high 10 hits off the right-hander, who had been coming off a 16-strikeout performance. In his most recent outing, Pineda surrendered seven runs (four earned) on eight hits across six innings against the Rangers.
Young, meanwhile, hardly has a blemish in his four starts so far this season, owning a 0.40 ERA as a starter. Against the Yankees the first time around, Young gave up his first earned run as a starter and threw 5 2/3 innings. He followed that performance with six shutout innings against the Cardinals.
You can follow Matthew DeFranks on Twitter at @MDeFranks or email him at matthew.defranks@gmail.com.
