NEW YORK — Austin Wells hit a go-ahead three-run homer in the seventh inning and added an RBI double in the eighth as the New York Yankees pulled away for a 10-4 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Monday night and widened their lead in the AL East.
The Yankees (83-61) surpassed last season’s win total and moved 1 1/2 games ahead of the Orioles, who were handed a 12-3 loss in Boston.
Aaron Judge hit a tying single off James McArthur and four pitches later, Wells lifted a 2-1 fastball into the lower rows of the right field bleachers to push New York’s lead to 7-4.
“Got a couple of pitches in off the plate, so I was kind of looking inside there,” Wells said. “I was able to put a good swing on it.”
After homering, Wells briefly watched the flight of the ball, flipped his bat and yelled in excitement towards his teammates in the dugout.
“I was jacked,” Wells said. “I blacked out.”
The 404-foot drive was Wells’ seventh in his last 37 games since July 21 and sixth as New York’s cleanup hitter behind Judge.
The rookie catcher tied a career high and drove in four runs for the fourth time since making his debut last September. Three of those instances are since the All-Star break and Wells is batting .301 in his last 37 games.
“He’s been a middle of the order hitter for two, three months now and I think we’ve all seen that, witnessed that,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “Whether you get a result or not it’s the just the level of the at-bat that he gives you from the left side is impressive and that was a no doubter tonight.”
“That homer today was insane,” added outfielder Jasson Domínguez, who was 1 for 4 after being promoted from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes Barre.
Hunter Renfroe led off the sixth with a homer to give the Royals a 4-3 lead before the Yankees mounted a rally against McArthur (5-7) and scored the final seven runs of the game.
Gleyber Torres beat out an infield single after Bobby Witt Jr. made a diving stop at shortstop and Juan Soto drew a walk. Judge, who is homerless in 13 games, followed by singling to left to easily score Torres.
Domínguez singled, stole third base and scored New York’s first run on a throwing error by catcher Salvador Perez. Alex Verdugo hit a two-run homer to give the Yankees a brief 3-2 lead.
Verdugo hit his second homer since the All-Star break after the Yankees called up Domínguez to see regular time in left field. Domínguez started in centre field and was 1 for 4 while Judge was the designated hitter.
Torres hit an RBI single in the eighth before Wells doubled off the left field wall as the Yankees scored double digit runs for the 13th time this season.
Perez homered, went 4 for 4 and drove in Kansas City its first three runs as the Royals capitalized on shaky defence to take an early lead.
He hit an RBI single off Carlos Rodón in the first after Tommy Pham started the game by reaching on a throwing error by third baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr., who made a low throw to first base.
Perez homered in the third for a 2-0 lead and hit a tying single in the fifth on a miscommunication between Torres and Soto on a pop-up.
The Royals (79-66) lost their sixth straight road game and dropped 3 1/2 games behind Cleveland in the AL Central.
“We felt really good about him (McArthur) there,” Kansas City manager Matt Quatraro said. “It was one of those nights where he wasn’t able to put them away.”
Rodón allowed four runs (three earned) and six hits in six innings.
Jake Cousins (2-1) picked off pinch hitter Kyle Isbel in the seventh and Luke Weaver stranded two in the eighth. Ian Hamilton pitched a 1-2-3 ninth in his first appearance since June 16.
Kansas City starter Brady Singer allowed three runs and five hits in five innings.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Yankees: INF DJ LeMahieu (right hip impingement) was placed on the 10-day injured list and may miss the rest of the season. … INF Jon Berti was activated after missing 90 games with a strained left calf.
UP NEXT
Royals RHP Seth Lugo (15-8, 3.08 ERA) opposes New York RHP Marcus Stroman (10-7, 4.03) on Tuesday.