Aaron Boone and the Yankees have been waiting for many of the team’s slumping former All-Stars to come through during Aaron Judge’s injury absence.
A couple of them did late in their game Saturday to lift the Yankees to another much-needed victory.
DJ LeMahieu’s first home run in nearly six weeks snapped a seventh-inning tie and two-run homer by Giancarlo Stanton in the eighth inning propelled the Yankees over the Royals, 5-2, at the Stadium.
The victory, their second straight following a 1-5 road trip out of the All-Star break, boosted the Yankees to 52-47.
Combined with the Red Sox’s loss to the Mets in the completion of a suspended game, the win also moved the Yankees out of last place in the AL East — at least temporarily.
LeMahieu’s full-count home run over the right-field wall off Royals reliever Carlos Hernandez — his first in 26 games since June 13 against the Mets — gave the Yankees a 3-2 lead in the seventh inning before Tommy Kahnle and Clay Holmes recorded the final six outs.
They will go for a three-game sweep of the Royals, who own the second-worst record in baseball (28-72), on Sunday with Luis Severino on the mound.
Judge is slated to take live batting practice before the game Sunday for the first time since he tore a ligament in his right big toe in early June.
Stanton, who had three RBIs on Saturday, brought home two huge runs against righty Dylan Coleman in the eighth inning with his 13th homer of the season, and his sixth in his past 10 appearances.
Gerrit Cole allowed two runs over 6 ¹/₃ innings, striking out and 10 and walking one to keep his ERA where it started the day at 2.78.
Cole’s no-decision at least marked a strong beginning in his first career start with catcher Ben Rortvedt, who was called up from Triple-A on Friday when Jose Trevino was placed on the injured list.
Trevino is expected to miss the remainder of the season due to wrist surgery.
The Yankees had acquired Rortvedt from the Twins after the 2021 season, but he missed all of last year with injuries.
Cole and Trevino had built a strong rapport, with the six-time All-Star posting a 2.57 ERA over 41 games in which the two worked together over the past two seasons, including 18 of his first 20 starts this year.
Cole’s ERA with Kyle Higashioka catching him has been more than a full run higher (3.67) over 41 games during his pinstriped tenure.
“There’s no question there’s a comfort level there with Trevy and Gerrit, but looking forward to Benny getting back there with him, though,” Boone said before the game. “They got to spend [Friday] kind of going through their game plan for today and getting comfortable.
“Have a lot of confidence in Ben and his ability behind the plate. But [it’s] certainly, something new, and looking forward to seeing what it looks like.
“Obviously Gerrit’s very detailed in what he does, so it was good for them to get a day where Ben’s not in the lineup, to be out in front of that the day before.”
After Cole struck out two in an 11-pitch first inning, the Yankees grabbed a quick 1-0 lead against Kansas City starter Brady Singer in the bottom half.
Billy McKinney, batting in the leadoff spot after he belted a key three-run homer Friday in a 5-4 win, drew a walk Gleyber Torres reached on an infield single.
Anthony Rizzo bounced into a 3-6-3 double play, but Stanton delivered a two-out single to left to plate McKinney.
The Royals drew even in the third, when Nick Pratto crushed Cole’s 2-2 off-speed offering into the right-field seats for a leadoff homer.
The Yankees quickly restored the lead, however, in the bottom of the inning on Torres’ sacrifice fly after Anthony Volpe had doubled and stolen third.
Cole nearly escaped a first-and-third situation with none out in the fifth inning, striking out two batters before Maikel Garcia ripped a single up the middle for a 2-2 tie.
The Yankees also had runners on the corners with one down in the sixth on singles by McKinney and Rizzo, but Singer fanned Stanton on a 3-2 sinker before Franchy Cordero skied to center for the third out.
Cole reached 99 pitches by recording one more out in the seventh before Boone turned to lefty Wandy Peralta to finish the inning.