KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Pablo Reyes stumbled, stopped and still scrambled home safely on a wild play in the eighth inning Thursday night, taking advantage of a throwing error by reliever Lucas Erceg to give the New York Yankees a 1-0 victory over the Kansas City Royals.
New York completed a three-game sweep to finish 6-0 against the Royals this season after eliminating them 3-1 in their best-of-five playoff series last October.
Backed by some brilliant defense, Will Warren and four relievers combined on a five-hitter as the AL East-leading Yankees (42-25) moved a season-high 17 games over .500. They have the best road record in the majors at 21-13.
Mark Leiter Jr. (4-3) got one out for the win, and Devin Williams earned his ninth save with a perfect ninth. He threw a called third strike past Jac Caglianone to end it, freezing the touted rookie with a full-count fastball.
The game was interrupted by rain for 28 minutes in the top of the sixth.
With two on and two outs in the eighth, Paul Goldschmidt lined a single off the glove of leaping first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino. He tracked down the ball behind him and threw to Erceg (1-2) covering first, but Goldschmidt beat the play.
Reyes lost his balance coming around third, changed direction twice and then slid home safely when Erceg bounced his throw to the plate.
Both starters pitched 5 2/3 scoreless innings. Seth Lugo allowed just two hits, while Warren permitted four.
