KANSAS CITY, Mo. — At the end of April, the Yankees find themselves in first place with an eight-game winning streak — and an ace who seems to be finding his form.
Gerrit Cole had a second straight scoreless start and the Yankees’ offense scraped together enough runs for a 3-0 win over the Royals at Kauffman Stadium on Saturday night.
Cole (2-0), whose ERA was 6.35 after his first three outings, wasn’t dominant, but he was very effective in pitching with Jose Trevino behind the plate again.
The right-hander stranded runners in scoring position twice. He struck out Salvador Perez with the bases loaded to end the third and ended his night by striking out Bobby Witt Jr. and Kyle Isbel looking to end the sixth with runners on second and third.
“He was able to make some pitches,’’ Trevino said. “That’s what he does. He’s an ace for a reason. He comes out and makes pitches when needs to and he did that tonight.”
Manager Aaron Boone said the pairing of Cole and Trevino wasn’t permanent, but more a matter of scheduling.
We’ll see if the Yankees decide to keep the duo together, but Trevino credited Kyle Higashioka with coming up with the game plan.
Pretty much everything the Yankees have drawn up lately has worked, which is why they’ve won nine of their last 10 and own the best record in baseball (15-6).
After scoring double-digit runs in four of five games for the second time since 1955 and first time since 2002, the Yankees’ offense had a more modest output on Saturday.
A Josh Donaldson double was their only extra-base hit, but that didn’t matter.
“That’s our strength: versatility,’’ Cole said. “The ability to play tight games, boat race people and the ability to come back.”
The Yankees had the bases loaded and no one out in the top of the second after Gleyber Torres led off with a single to left, Aaron Hicks walked and Joey Gallo added a base hit to right.
When Isiah Kiner-Falefa grounded into a double play, Torres scored to give the Yankees a 1-0 lead, but that was the only run they came away with.
The Yankees had the bases jammed again in the third, and the suddenly surging Torres hit a sacrifice fly to make it 2-0. Rizzo was thrown out trying to steal third, however, to end the threat.
Cole’s first bit of trouble came in the third, when Edward Olivares reached on an infield hit to short with one out. Nicky Lopez fouled out before Cole issued two straight four-pitch walks to Whit Merrifield and Andrew Benintendi.
Following a visit from pitching coach Matt Blake, Salvador Perez swung at the first pitch he saw and grounded the cutter to short to keep the Royals scoreless.
“That was a self-inflicted jam there,’’ Cole said. “[Donaldson] told me I was one pitch away. There you go.”
“On a night it wasn’t necessarily perfect, he was at his best at the biggest moments,’’ Boone said of Cole, whose ERA is down to 3.00.
The Yankees got another run on a sacrifice fly when Kiner-Falefa drove in Aaron Hicks in the fourth to make it 3-0.
Miguel Castro entered to start the bottom of the seventh, and with two on and one out, Benintendi hit a line drive to Rizzo at first. Rizzo threw to second to double off Olivares.
Clay Holmes pitched into and out of trouble in the eighth.
Aroldis Chapman, who hadn’t pitched since Tuesday, came in for the ninth and showed no signs of rust — retiring the side in order, despite some trouble with the PitchCom system, for his fifth save.
“If you want to be a complete team and a really good one, you’ve got to win games in different ways,” Boone said. “We’ve done that.”