(SportsNetwork.com) - Having lost their edge in the American League Central standings, the Kansas City Royals try to close out the weekend on a positive note as they battle the New York Yankees at Kauffman Stadium on Sunday.
Kansas City, which still has one of the top records in the league overall, finds itself now tied with Detroit for first in the division, after the Tigers posted their third win in a row on Saturday.
The Royals had their issues on both offense and defense yesterday, producing just a single run and committing two errors in the 5-1 home loss. Salvador Perez had the only extra-base hit for the hosts, while Mike Moustakas was credited with an RBI on a sacrifice fly.
Pitcher Danny Duffy was charged with the loss, his third in five decisions, as he gave up four runs on four hits and four walks, fanning three over the course of five innings.
Over on the other side, CC Sabathia broke through with only his second win of 2015, limiting the Royals to just the one run on six hits, while fanning five over seven innings.
"Hopefully I can just keep this going," Sabathia said. "I feel good, I've got no problems. Hopefully I can just keep going out there and give us a chance to win."
Chase Headley's three-run home run in the fifth inning was more than enough to carry the Yankees to their 13th road victory, but the team picked up some insurance late when Alex Rodriguez connected on his 10th home run of the season, giving him 664 for his career. Rodriguez is also now just nine RBI shy of 2,000.
"It's not like we've been not having good at-bats, we just haven't been able to get the big hit," Headley said. "We've had opportunities and we just haven't driven anybody in. That's going to happen throughout the course of the season. Tonight, it was nice to be able to come through with that swing."
Slated to take the hill for the Yankees is Chris Capuano, filling in for the injured Chase Whitley who may need Tommy John surgery. Capuano, a left- hander from Duke, is back after missing the start of the season with a quad injury.
Capuano pitched for both the Yankees and Boston Red Sox a season ago, combining to produce a record of 3-4 over 40 outings.
Countering for the Royals will be Edinson Volquez, now with his fifth different club since 2011. The right-hander won two games in April but has come up winless in the last four outings.
While Kansas City has won each of his last two starts, Volquez has failed to factor into those decisions. The most recent of those efforts took place on Tuesday versus Texas as he lasted five innings, giving up four runs on six hits and three walks, while striking out three.
For his career, Volquez has a mark of 101 with a 4.73 ERA versus the Yankees.
Receive your weekly recap of all the happenings around the world of sports.