KANSAS CITY, Mo. — On plenty of nights, particularly when Aaron Judge is in the lineup, the Yankees can find ways to score that are easy on the eyes.
Thursday was not one of them, but they got the job done anyway.
With Aaron Judge getting at least the start of the night off, the Yankees struggled to do much without him before scrapping a run across in chaotic fashion in the top of the eighth to escape Kauffman Stadium with a 1-0 win over the Royals.
Thanks to a strong start from Will Warren and some gritty work from the bullpen, it was enough to fly to Boston with a three-game sweep in the ALDS rematch.
The decisive rally started with the little-used Pablo Reyes, who led off by spraying a single the other way off Royals reliever Lucas Erceg.
Judge then pinch-hit for Oswald Peraza but struck out looking at a 3-2 pitch that was a tad farther outside and lower than the one before it that was called ball three.
One out later, Ben Rice drew a walk to bring up Paul Goldschmidt, who roped a line drive to first base that hit off Vinnie Pasquantino’s glove and trickled behind him.
Erceg raced to cover first but the throw there was late as Goldschmidt busted it down the line.
Meanwhile, Reyes was racing around third and heading for home as Pasquantino threw to first, but he stumbled about halfway down the line, which caused him to turn back for third.
But after taking a few steps toward third, he changed direction again, and with the last bit of oxygen he had, he ran home to dive in safely ahead of the tag, thanks in part to catcher Freddy Fermin not being able to pick Erceg’s throw in the dirt.
When it was all said and done, Reyes was sprawled out on his back next to home plate gasping for air, and the Yankees had a 1-0 lead.
A sharp Jonathan Loáisiga got three groundouts in the bottom of the eighth before Devin Williams closed it out with a 1-2-3 ninth for his ninth save.
The Yankees now head to Fenway Park for a rematch with the Red Sox after dropping two of three to them last weekend in The Bronx.
Before his wild trip around the bases in the top of the eighth, Reyes turned in a nifty defensive gem in the bottom of the seventh to help get through the inning unscathed.
Right after Anthony Volpe made a terrific play on a ball in the hole for the first out, Jac Caglianone hit a ground ball to shallow second base.
Reyes raced over to get it and backhanded it out of his glove to Goldschmidt at first base for the out.
It proved key as the next two batters reached base before Mark Leiter Jr. got the final out to keep the game scoreless.
Warren and Seth Lugo traded zeroes for five innings, mostly cruising through the opposing lineups before the Royals went to the bullpen with two on and two outs in the top of the sixth inning, at which point a storm rolled through and the grounds crew brought the tarp onto the field.
After a delay of 28 minutes, the game resumed with lefty Angel Zerpa on the mound to face Cody Bellinger, who roped a fly ball to the gap but was robbed of an extra-base hit by a diving grab from center fielder Kyle Isbel, ending the threat.
Warren came back out for the bottom of the sixth — after he had a solid outing shortened by a longer rain delay in Colorado last month — and gave up a leadoff single before retiring the next two batters, at which point Aaron Boone also turned to his bullpen, with Tim Hill stranding the runner at first.
Warren was strong across 5 ²/₃ innings, scattering four hits and one walk while striking out four.
The Royals threatened to break the tie in the fifth inning when Nick Loftin drilled a one-out triple to the gap.
But with the infield playing in, Warren got Fermin to ground out to short before Isbel rolled into another groundout to end the inning.
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