RONALD BLUM
AP Sports Writer
NEW YORK (AP) — The New York Yankees know they are running out of time.
James Shields dominated New York’s anemic offense and Nori Aoki lined a run-scoring single in the third inning following Chase Headley’s two-base error, leading the Kansas City Royals over the Yankees 1-0 Friday night.
New York dropped 4½ games back for the second AL wild card and, with 23 games left, is in danger of missing the playoffs in consecutive years for the first time since 1992 and ’93. Each defeat narrows the likelihood of a turnaround.
“They’re all damaging at this point because it just makes it that much tougher,” manager Joe Girardi said.
Two starts after losing to the Yankees 8-1 in one of his worst outings this season, Shields (13-7) retired his first 11 batters before Brett Gardner’s double in the fourth. Headley singled in the fifth, and Gardner flied out to the right-field warning track in the sixth.
Shields retired 11 straight before Derek Jeter singled softly with one out in the ninth. Wade Davis relieved, and pinch-runner Antoan Richardson stole second. But Gardner struck out swinging on a 98 mph full-count pitch. Carlos Beltran took a called third strike, giving Davis his first big league save.
It was the second game-ending called third strike for Beltran this season and fifth of his career, according to STATS, including the final pitch of the 2006 NL championship series with the Mets and a rain-shortened game earlier that year.
“He threw me a 94 mph cutter inside, and he stayed away after that with a good fastball,” Beltran said.
A night after Mark Teixeira and Headley launched ninth-inning homers for a 5-4 win over Boston, the Yankees rarely hit the ball hard against Shields, who induced 12 groundouts. He allowed three hits in 8 1-3 innings, struck out five, walked none and hit a batter with a pitch.
“It seemed like every time you looked up, he was 1-2 in the count,” Girardi said.
Kansas City (78-61), which began the night one game in front of Detroit in the AL Central, is in first place in September for the first time since 1985. The Royals have won four in a row and are 17 games over .500 for the first time since 1989.
Michael Pineda (3-4), who has not allowed more than two runs in any of his 10 big league starts this year, has received 18 runs of offensive support in his last 13 outings dating to August 2013.
He was hurt by the Yankees’ defense in the third, when Alcides Escobar hit a one-out grounder that glanced off Headley’s glove at third and went into left field. Escobar hustled into second and scored an unearned run two pitches later when Aoki singled to center.
“If it’s an inch lower, it hits on the bottom side of my thumb and goes in my glove,” Headley said. “It just hit right on the top of it and kicked into the outfield.”
Pineda gave up three hits, all singles, in seven innings and walked none. Dellin Betances followed and reached 100 mph while pitching to Escobar in the eighth, according to the scoreboard radar gun.
But with this Yankees team, pitching only goes so far. Players in the quiet clubhouse know just a little more than three weeks of games remain.
“We’re going to have to win most of them,” Girardi said.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Yankees: INF-OF Martin Prado, recovering from a left hamstring strain, was available to pinch hit but didn’t play. He could be back in the starting lineup Saturday.
UP NEXT
RHP Brandon McCarthy (5-4) is slated to start Saturday for the Yankees against LHP Danny Duffy (9-11).
NOT WATCHING
Royals manager Ned Yost doesn’t bother to watch the scoreboard and see how his team’s rivals are doing.
“Other people can do it. I don’t like to do it. I like to just stay focused on what we’re doing. I’ll look at the standings every couple of days,” he said. “I’m not up for staying up late and studying.”
After the Royals arrived in New York on Thursday evening, he had dinner and didn’t watch the Tigers-Indians game, won by Detroit 11-4 in 11 innings just before midnight.
“I was in bed way before that game ended,” Yost said.
BATTING PRACTICE CHATTER
A different type of batter was speaking with Jeter on the field before the game: retired Indian cricket captain Sachin Tendulkar. The batsman is nicknamed the “God of Cricket.”
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