KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) Tyler Austin hit a pair of two-run homers, Sonny Gray pitched eight innings of four-hit ball and the New York Yankees beat the Kansas City Royals 10-1 on Sunday to win eight consecutive series for the first time since 1998.
Miguel Andujar and Austin Romine added back-to-back homers in the ninth for the Yankees, who have won 14 of their last 15 against the AL Central.
Gray (3-3) was coming off a tough start against Oakland in which he allowed five runs and a season-high nine hits in five innings. But there was nothing tough about facing the Royals popgun lineup, which didnt manage its first hit until there were two down in the fifth.
Gray wound up allowing one run while striking out five and walking one. New York is 24-1 when allowing four runs or fewer.
Eric Skoglund (1-4) gave up six runs, eight hits and two walks in five innings, the latest lousy start by the Royals rotation. Kansas Citys 5.51 team ERA is by far the worst in the majors.
Kansas City remains winless in six rubber games this season.
One night after the Yankees pounded five homers, including two from Gary Sanchez, it was the strong but inconsistent Austin that gave New York the lead and kept adding to it.
Skoglund had managed to avoid early trouble, nearly getting a triple play in the second inning, but walked Aaron Hicks to start the fourth. Austin turned on the first pitch he saw and sent it about 440 feet over the left-field wall it actually went about 500 feet with the bounce.
New York tacked on two more runs, the first on Romines single later in the inning and the other on Hicks triple in the fifth, before Austin got into the act again.
This time, his two-run shot was a high fly ball that just cleared the centerfield wall.
It was the second two-homer game of the year for Austin, who also did it March 31 at Toronto. The four RBIs matched a career high, which he also accomplished April 23 against Minnesota.
That was plenty for Gray, who finally surrendered a run with two outs in the eighth. He retired his first 14 batters and only allowed two runners to reach second through the first seven innings.
SWEET LOU
The Royals wrapped their Legends Weekend celebration with Lou Piniella throwing out the ceremonial first pitch. Piniella has deep ties to both clubs, having played five seasons in Kansas City and his final 11 with New York. He also spent three seasons as the Yankees manager.
FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH
