Kansas City, MO (SportsNetwork.com) - Lorenzo Cain and Mike Moustakas each put on a hitting clinic Friday night to help the Kansas City Royals to a 12-1 win over the New York Yankees in the opener of a three-game set.
Cain went 3-for-4 with a career-high five RBI and Moustakas had four hits and finished a home run shy of the cycle.
Chris Young (3-0) earned the win after giving up one run on four hits over 5 2/3 innings. He has given up two runs -- one earned -- in 16 2/3 innings over three starts this season.
"You love going against other first-place teams," said Young. "You have to give your best effort night in and night out."
Kendrys Morales drove in three RBI for the Royals, who have won three of their last four.
Michael Pineda (5-1) took the loss in the start for New York, surrendering five runs and 10 hits in 5 1/3 innings.
The Yankees dropped their fourth straight game.
Brett Gardner tripled with one out in the first, but the Yankees left him there as Young got flyouts of Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira to end the inning.
Kansas City scored one in the first and another in the third with the combination of Moustakas and Cain. The two hit back-to-back doubles in the first to open the scoring, then Moustakas tripled and scored on Cain's sacrifice fly for a 2-0 lead after three innings.
Rodriguez doubled to begin the fourth, Teixeira followed with an infield single and Brian McCann brought the former in with a sac fly to right that cut New York's deficit to one.
Franklin Morales relieved Young with two outs and a runner on first in the sixth, and Carlos Beltran greeted him with a double to put a pair of runners in scoring position. Chase Headley grounded out, however, as Kansas City escaped the jam.
The Royals then broke the game open in the sixth with a six-run inning. Alex Gordon led off with a double and scored two batters later on Omar Infante's triple. Paulo Orlando knocked Infante in with a single and Alcides Escobar reached on a fielder's choice with Orlando making it to second safely.
"It was really close and then they just broke it open," said McCann. "You tip your hat to them."
After Moustakas grounded out to advance both runners, Cain made it 6-1 with a two-run single. Morales and Gordon each added run-scoring hits later in the frame.
In the seventh, Moustakas capped his evening with an RBI double and Cain chased him home with a base hit that extended the lead to 10-1. Morales knocked a two-run double later in the seventh to account for the final margin.
Game Notes
The Royals pounded out 17 hits to the Yankees' five ... Morales has 14 doubles this season ... Jacoby Ellsbury stole his 13th base of the season.
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