Kansas City, MO – Lyle Overbay went 4-for-5 with a homer and five RBI to lead a 16-hit outburst that carried the New York Yankees to an 11-6 victory over the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium.
Overbay finished a triple shy of the cycle, while Ichiro Suzuki finished 3- for-5 with a two-run homer and three runs scored to help Joe Girardi obtain his 500th win as the Yankees' manager.
New York, which entered Friday's opener of this three-game series off back-to- back triumphs in Colorado, also received two hits and a pair of RBI from Chris Nelson, with Jayson Nix ending 2-for-3 with three runs scored in the rout.
"I've been blessed to have this opportunity," said Girardi afterward. "[Former owner George] Steinbrenner and [general manager Brian Cashman] trusted me and put me in this position. I'm fortunate. It's a challenge to dream about playing in the big leagues and I don't know if you dream about managing. But as I got older, it was something I really wanted to do."
Phil Hughes (2-2) benefited from the Yankees' heavy run support, earning the decision despite permitting six runs over the first 5 2/3 innings.
Royals starter Wade Davis (2-3) was hit hard as well, surrendering seven runs on seven hits in five-plus innings of work.
Jarrod Dyson had a three-run homer for Kansas City and Alex Gordon went 2- for-4 with two RBI in the loss, the Royals' fourth in five games.
Hughes squandered an early 4-0 lead before being bailed out by the Yankees' bats, with the Bronx Bombers pounding Kansas City pitching for five runs on six hits during a big fifth inning that began with the scored tied at 5-5.
Suzuki started things off with a leadoff double and Nix singled to chase Davis before Overbay greeted Bruce Chen with a tie-breaking double into the right center-field gap. Nelson then sliced a base hit that brought in both runners and staked the Yankees to an 8-5 advantage.
Two batters later, Brett Gardner ripped a triple to left center to plate Nelson, with Robinson Cano capping the five-run barrage with a single that made the score 10-5.
The Royals got a run back when Mike Moustakas took Hughes over the wall in the bottom of the sixth, but failed to get a hit against the bullpen combo of Shawn Kelley and Boone Logan over the final 3 1/3 innings.
Overbay capped his huge night with a ninth-inning single that knocked in Suzuki, who led off with a single and stole second to move into scoring position.
Suzuki followed a walk to Travis Hafner with a line drive into the Kansas City bullpen that put the Yankees up 2-0 in the second. After Nix doubled, Overbay crushed Davis' 3-1 pitch into the seats to create a four-run differential.
"The walks didn't help," said Davis. "I left a couple pitches up to some big hitters and they hit it out of the ballpark. That's what they're supposed to do."
Kansas City closed the gap on Dyson's second career major league homer, a two- out blast in the bottom of the frame that came with Eric Hosmer and Salvador Perez aboard.
Overbay doubled home Nix in the fourth to give New York a 5-3 edge, with the Royals pulling even against a shaky Hughes an inning later. Consecutive singles by Alcides Escobar and Lorenzo Cain set the stage for Gordon, whose deep opposite-field double knocked in both runners.
Game Notes
Girardi became the seventh Yankee skipper to reach the 500-win mark and the fifth fastest to do so. He achieved the feat in 844 games, one less than Billy Martin and 11 more than predecessor Joe Torre ... Dyson's only other homer in the majors came at Kauffman Stadium against Minnesota on Sept. 27, 2010 ... Suzuki is a .377 (89-for-236) lifetime hitter at Kauffman Stadium ... Gordon is batting .370 (10-for-27) with three homers and nine RBI during a six-game hitting streak.
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