Three Things to Take Away From the Royals' 6-5 Win Over the Yankees

The Kansas City Royals used a four-run eighth inning and held on at the end to defeat the Yankees 6-5 in New York.

The Kansas City Royals used a four-run eighth inning and held on at the end to defeat the Yankees 6-5 in New York.

The Royals and Brady Singer weathered a shaky start with just enough pitching and defense to hold off the Yankees. The Yankees stranded 13 base runners and the Royals took advantage of opportunities with which they came about.

Kansas City improves to 33-38 on the season while New York falls to 38-34. Here's what I took away from the game. 

Turn and burn, O'Hearn!

Ryan O'Hearn was called up Monday to replace Adalberto Mondesi. O'Hearn was tearing it up in Omaha with 12 home runs and a 1.382 OPS. He picked up right where he left off as he went 2-4 with two RBI and a home run off Yankee ace Gerrit Cole. Royals' fans have been waiting for O'Hearn to take the next step after his power surge in 2018. If O'Hearn has found his swing, he can be a dangerous weapon in an otherwise lacking lineup. 

Kris Bubic locks down the Yankees out of the pen.

Kris Bubic has had a mixed season with some great appearances and some ugly appearances. Bubic seems to have found a role in the pen. In 17 and 2/3 relief innings, Bubic has an ERA of 2.14. In six starts and 30 innings, Bubic has an ERA of 5.10. He capitalized out of the bullpen again today, getting Giancarlo Stanton to pop out in the fourth inning with the bases loaded in a tie game. He followed up with two more scoreless innings and did a great job bridging the gap from Singer to the back end of the bullpen. 

The best against the rest.

The Royals continue to play well against non-AL Central teams. The Royals win over the Yankees improves their record to 18-13 against the rest of the MLB. That's including a 1-6 road trip against Oakland and Los Angeles. There's something about playing other teams that brings the best out of the Royals. The Royals will have to continue this success against non-divisional opponent teams if there's any hope of digging themselves out of this new hole they created as 12 of the next 15 are against non-divisional opponents.