Kansas City Royals @ New York Yankees, 5/22/17: Lineups & Preview
Apr 29, 2017; Bronx, NY, USA; New York Yankees starting pitcher Michael Pineda (35) delivers a pitch against the Baltimore Orioles in the first inning at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Noah K. Murray-USA TODAY Sports

After a series loss to Tampa Bay, the New York Yankees are looking to continue their home dominance as they welcome the Kansas City Royals.

The New York Yankees and Kansas City Royals will square off yet again on Monday night, but this time it will be at the friendly confines of Yankee Stadium.



Michael Pineda will make his ninth start of the 2017 season coming off a start in Kansas City in which he held the Royals to three runs on six hits over six innings of work. The Yankees own a 6-2 record in Pineda’s starts including six of the last seven.

Since his first start of the year, Big Mike has gone 4-1 with a 2.89 ERA including 49 strikeouts in 43.1 innings. Among qualified American League starters, his strikeout rate of 28.8 percent sits only behind Danny Salazar and Chris Sale.

The Royals will counter with Jason Vargas, who the Yankees lit up for six runs on seven hits in four innings on May 17. That dismal outing made the lefty’s ERA jump from 1.01 to 2.03 — which is still the third-best in the majors.

In five career starts at Yankee Stadium, Vargas is 0-4 with an 8.34 ERA. He has let up 31 hits (seven of them for home runs) while striking out only 17. Among the 160 pitchers to pitch in less than 10 but at least five games at the new house, Vargas’ 25 runs allowed is the 16th-highest.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRKIt3isiDk

Lineups: 

Player To Watch: Mike Moustakas 

Moustakas enters play on Monday night looking to extend his eight-game hitting streak dating bat to May 11 and the odds of doing so are certainly in his favor.

In his career against Michael Pineda, the 28-year-old is 7-for-15 (.467) with two home runs, two doubles and a triple. He faced him twice when he faced Pineda on May 17 at Kauffman Stadium and went 1-for-2 with a single and hit-by-pitch.

Home Cooking:

Maybe it’s the fans that make Aaron Judge so comfortable, but whatever the reason may be, the 6-foot-7 outfielder is loving the Bronx.

At Yankee Stadium this season, Judge is slashing .387/.513/.968 with an OPS of 1.481 and 11 of his Major League-leading 15 home runs. Among hitters with at least 60 plate appearances in the Bronx this season, the 25-year-old owns the highest batting average, OPS+ and extra-base hits.

Current AL East Standings: 

[graphiq id=”aCPc3Jdq0oR” title=”AL East Standings” width=”550″ height=”563″ url=”https://sw.graphiq.com/w/aCPc3Jdq0oR” frozen=”true”]

This Day In Yankees History:

On May 22, 1930, the Yankees and A’s combined for 33 runs in a 20-13 Yankees win at Philadelphia. The game featured a 3-for-5 day by Lou Gehrig, which included three home runs — his final career three-home run game from the legend. The total runs remain tied with May 3, 1912 (18- 15 loss), and June 3, 1932 (20-13 win), for the Yankees’ franchise high.



How To Watch:

  • TIME: 7:05 p.m. ET
  • CHANNEL: YES Network, FOX Sports KC, MLB.TV
  • RADIO: WFAN 660/101.9 FM, WADO 1280, KCSP 610
  • VENUE: Yankee Stadium, Bronx, NY