Royals let Yankees walk away with win in AL Division Series opener

Given a lead, the Kansas City Royals' pitching staff let the New York Yankees walk away with a playoff win.

Facing the team that led the major leagues in walks during the regular season, the Royals held the lead three times, only to see it erased when their pitchers struggled to find the strike zone during a 6-5 loss to the Yankees in their AL Division Series opener Saturday night.

Kansas City tied a season high by issuing eight walks for the third time. It was the first time the Royals handed out that many free passes since July 4 against Tampa Bay, though they also walked seven batters during a 10-4 loss at Yankee Stadium on Sept. 9.

“That’s really uncharacteristic for us,” Kansas City manager Matt Quatraro said. “It’s something you don’t want to try to fight back from against a team like that. So that was uncharacteristic and unfortunate because that’s not really who we are as a staff.”

Angel Zerpa and John Schreiber in particular struggled with their command, issuing bases-loaded walks to Austin Wells and Anthony Volpe in the fifth inning that allowed the Yankees to take a 5-4 lead. Zerpa also walked Aaron Judge on a slider before walking Wells on a sinker that was high and inside.

“They looked at a lot of pitches,” Zerpa said through a translator. “We were close, but not good enough pitches to make them count."

Schreiber got two quick outs but fell behind Volpe and walked the shortstop on a sinker that was outside.

“They’re a great team,” Schreiber said. “We've just got to go out there and keep trying to execute pitches and get them out, and that’s the biggest thing."

It was the first time the Yankees drew a pair of bases-loaded walks in a postseason game since Bullet Joe Bush and Joe Dugan against the New York Giants’ Rosy Ryan in Game 6 of the 1923 World Series.

Zerpa and Schreiber combined to walk three of the seven hitters they faced after starter Michael Wacha walked three in four-plus innings and was pulled following a walk to Gleyber Torres to open the fifth. Wacha threw 44 of 70 pitches for strikes and issued at least three walks for the sixth time this year.

“You try to stay on the attack and make good, quality pitches," Wacha said. “I was able to do that at times and then not at times as well.”

After Zerpa and Schreiber walked Wells and Volpe, Sam Long opened the sixth by walking No. 9 hitter Alex Verdugo, who later scored on a tying single by Wells.

“I think you've got to treat everybody the same,” Long said about pitching to the Yankees. “They’re a good lineup, no doubt about it. There’s a little bit more emphasis on making quality pitches. So just come in and execute better next time.”