CC Sabathia put together another solid eight-inning performance and Derek Jeter continued his torrid pace at the plate going 2-for-5 with a two-run home run Friday, as the New York Yankees earned a much needed 6-2 victory at the Kansas City Royals. New York (14-12) snapped a three-game skid and more importantly earned its first win since hearing the disappointing news about long-time closer Mariano Rivera.
Sabathia allowed two runs on seven hits and struck out five, while reliever David Robertson tossed a scoreless ninth inning for the Yankees, who got homers from Mark Teixeira and Jeter.
Teixeria's blast came in the top of the first inning and gave New York a quick 2-0 lead, which was quickly blown by Sabathia who gave up two runs in the bottom half of the same inning.
From there, Sabathia was pretty much flawless and used a four-run eighth inning, capped by Jeter's fifth home run of the season, to earn his fourth win of the season.
Royals' starting pitcher Bruce Chen tossed 6 2/3 innings and allowed six runs in the loss.
The Yankees and Royals will resume their four-game series Sunday, when Hirkoki Kuroda (2-3, 3.69 ERA) opposes Felipe Paulino, who's making his first start of the season, at 7:10 p.m. ET.
-- See Pinstripe Alley for more discussion and analysis of the Yankees.