KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City Royals (8-17, 1-11 home) are still in search of their second home win after losing 6-2 to the New York Yankees (14-12, 7-6 away) on Friday night at Kauffman Stadium.
In the first inning, Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira hit a two-run home run to give New York a 2-0 lead. Later that inning, Royals right fielder Jeff Franceour answered with an RBI double to tie the game at 2-2.
In the seventh, Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter crushed a hanging curveball off Royals starter Bruce Chen. Jeter’s two-run blast gave the Yankees a 6-2 lead, and they never looked back.
Chen (0-4, 4.98 ERA) went 6 2/3 innings, gave up six runs on nine hits, struck out four, and walked one.
Yankees ace CC Sabathia (4-0, 4.15 ERA) was in Cy Young form. He pitched 8 innings, gave up two runs on seven hits, and struck out five.
Game three on Saturday features Royals starter Felipe Paulino against Yankees starter Hiroki Kuroda (2-3, 3.69 ERA). This will be Paulino’s first start of 2012.
