Yankees edge Royals 4-3 in 11 innings on infield single by Jazz Chisholm Jr.

NEW YORK (AP) — Jazz Chisholm Jr. hit a game-ending infield single with one out in the 11th inning and the New York Yankees outlasted the Kansas City Royals for a 4-3 victory Wednesday night.

Juan Soto launched a go-ahead homer in the sixth for the Yankees, who increased their advantage in the AL East to 1 1/2 games over Baltimore. New York has held the lead since Aug. 21 but hasn't led by more than two games during that stretch.

Shortly before Chisholm came through, the Orioles lost 5-3 in 10 innings at Fenway Park when Tyler O’Neill hit a walk-off homer for Boston.

Chisholm came up with runners on first and third after Kris Bubic (0-1) intentionally walked Aaron Judge following a groundout by Soto that sent automatic runner Jon Berti from second base to third.

With the infield playing in, Judge advanced to second on defensive indifference and Chisolm slapped a 2-1 slider toward shortstop. Bobby Witt Jr. made a diving stop on his backhand, but an off-balance throw from his knees was wide of the plate. Berti, who was pinch running, scored easily with a headfirst slide.

“Honestly, I was looking for a pitch that I could get through a hole or get to the outfield to score anybody on third base,” Chisholm said. “I was willing to pass the baton if I didn’t get a pitch to hit.”

Chisholm batted cleanup for the second time since being acquired from the Miami Marlins on July 27. It was his first career walk-off hit and he was doused in water during the celebration while getting mobbed by teammates near second base.

Luke Weaver (5-3) struck out three in 1 2/3 hitless innings for the win.

New York took two of three in a series between playoff contenders. Kansas City fell 4 1/2 games behind first-place Cleveland in the AL Central but holds the league’s second wild card by 1 1/2 games over Minnesota.

“This is a big series win for us against a really good club over there that threw a lot of good pitching at us,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said.

The teams traded runs in the 10th. Royals pinch-runner Darion Blanco stole third base and scored on Jake Cousins’ wild pitch. In the bottom half, pinch-hitter Austin Wells tied it with a sacrifice fly.

“It was a tense game,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said. “It was tight. It was well pitched on both sides.”

Soto hit a two-run homer off Cole Ragans to give the Yankees a 2-1 lead, two pitches after fouling a ball off his right ankle in the sixth. The slugger doubled over in pain, but stayed in the game after getting checked by head athletic trainer Tim Lentych. Soto fouled off another pitch off before sending a 402-foot drive to right field.

“You really get mad when you hit yourself,” Soto said. “It’s just the way it goes. I’m not mad at the pitcher or anything. Just mad at myself, but when you come through like that, it just feels a little relief.”

Soto said he felt the pain when he homered but was feeling better after the game.

“He’s got that theatric thing down pretty good here,” Boone said.

Salvador Perez hit a tying sacrifice fly off Clay Holmes in the seventh and started an impressive double play to end the bottom half.

With runners on first and second, Jose Trevino hit a high chopper to the first baseman and Perez reached to barely tag Trevino on the back of his jersey. Perez then pivoted quickly and made a strong throw to catcher Freddy Fermin, cutting down Anthony Volpe at the plate.

Kansas City challenged the safe call at first, which was overturned following a brief replay review.

Ragans allowed two runs and three hits in six innings. He struck out seven and moved ahead of Detroit lefty Tarik Skubal for the American League lead in strikeouts.

“I don’t think that they’re any better than us,” Ragans said. “We believe in ourselves. I think we’re a good team. We’re a playoff team. They’re a good team, they’re a playoff team. It’s a good matchup, it was a good three games.”

Yankees rookie Luis Gil permitted one run and five hits over five innings in his second start following a stint on the injured list due to a back injury.

Michael Massey homered in the fourth against Gil, who struck out MJ Melendez with two on to end the fifth.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Royals: RHP Michael Lorenzen (strained left hamstring) will make his next minor league rehab start this weekend and could return to the rotation next week. Lorenzen threw 38 pitches over 1 2/3 shaky innings Tuesday night for Double-A Northwest Arkansas and felt fine afterward, Quatraro said.

UP NEXT

Royals: Had not announced a starter for the opener of a three-game series at Pittsburgh on Friday. RHP Luis Ortiz (6-5, 3.26 ERA) will pitch for the Pirates.

Yankees: LHP Nestor Cortes (9-10, 3.97 ERA) opposes Boston RHP Cooper Criswell (6-4, 4.11) in the opener of a four-game series Thursday night.

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

Kansas City Royals' Kyle Isbel (28), left, celebrates with Freddy Fermin after scoring on a sacrifice fly hit by Salvador Perez during the seventh inning of a baseball game at Yankee Stadium, Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Kansas City Royals' Salvador Perez (13), left, and New York Yankees catcher Jose Trevino look after a sacrifice fly during the seventh inning of a baseball game at Yankee Stadium, Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

New York Yankees' Anthony Volpe reacts after being called out at home plate during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Kansas City Royals at Yankee Stadium Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

New York Yankees' Juan Soto, center, celebrates after hitting a two-run home run during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Kansas City Royals at Yankee Stadium, Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

New York Yankees' Juan Soto hits a two-run home run during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Kansas City Royals at Yankee Stadium, Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

New York Yankees' Jazz Chisholm Jr., center left, celebrates with teammates after hitting a walk-off RBI single during the 11th inning of a baseball game against the Kansas City Royals at Yankee Stadium, Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

New York Yankees' celebrate after Jazz Chisholm Jr. hit a walk-off RBI single in the 11th inning after the a baseball game against the Kansas City Royals at Yankee Stadium Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

New York Yankees' Jazz Chisholm Jr. celebrates after hitting a walk-off RBI single during the 11th inning of a baseball game against the Kansas City Royals at Yankee Stadium Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

A key employee who labeled a doomed experimental submersible unsafe prior to its last, fatal voyage testified Tuesday that he frequently clashed with the company’s co-founder and felt the company was committed only to making money.

David Lochridge, OceanGate’s former operations director, is one of the most anticipated witnesses to appear before a commission trying to determine what caused the Titan to implode en route to the wreckage of the Titanic last year, killing all five on board. His testimony echoed that of other former employees Monday, one of whom described OceanGate head Stockton Rush as volatile and difficult to work with.

“The whole idea behind the company was to make money,” Lochridge said. “There was very little in the way of science.”

Rush was among the five people who died in the implosion. OceanGate owned the Titan and brought it on several dives to the Titanic going back to 2021.

Lochridge's testimony began a day after other witnesses painted a picture of a troubled company that was impatient to get its unconventionally designed craft into the water. The accident set off a worldwide debate about the future of private undersea exploration.

Lochridge joined the company in the mid-2010s as a veteran engineer and submersible pilot and said he quickly came to feel he was being used to lend the company scientific credibility. He said he felt the company was selling him as part of the project “for people to come up and pay money,” and that did not sit well with him.

“I was, I felt, a show pony,” he said. “I was made by the company to stand up there and do talks. It was difficult. I had to go up and do presentations. All of it.”

Lochridge referenced a 2018 report in which he raised safety issues about OceanGate operations. He said with all of the safety issues he saw “there was no way I was signing off on this.”

Asked whether he had confidence in the way the Titan was being built, he said: “No confidence whatsoever.”

Employee turnover was very high at the time, said Lochridge, and leadership dismissed his concerns because they were more focused on “bad engineering decisions” and a desire to get to the Titanic as quickly as possible and start making money. He eventually was fired after raising the safety concerns, he said.

“I didn’t want to lose my job. I wanted to do the Titanic. But to dive it safely. It was on my bucket list, too,” he said.

OceanGate, based in Washington state, suspended its operations after the implosion.

OceanGate's former engineering director, Tony Nissen, kicked off Monday's testimony, telling investigators he felt pressured to get the vessel ready to dive and refused to pilot it for a journey several years before Titan's last trip. Nissen worked on a prototype hull that predated the Titanic expeditions.

“‘I’m not getting in it,’” Nissen said he told Rush.

When asked if there was pressure to get Titan into the water, Nissen responded, “100%.”

But asked if he felt that the pressure compromised safety decisions and testing, Nissen paused, then replied, “No. And that’s a difficult question to answer, because given infinite time and infinite budget, you could do infinite testing.”

OceanGate's former finance and human resources director, Bonnie Carl, testified Monday that Lochridge had characterized the Titan as “unsafe.”

Coast Guard officials noted at the start of the hearing that the submersible had not been independently reviewed, as is standard practice. That and Titan's unusual design subjected it to scrutiny in the undersea exploration community.

During the submersible's final dive on June 18, 2023, the crew lost contact after an exchange of texts about the Titan's depth and weight as it descended. The support ship Polar Prince then sent repeated messages asking if the Titan could still see the ship on its onboard display.

One of the last messages from Titan’s crew to Polar Prince before the submersible imploded stated, “all good here,” according to a visual re-creation presented earlier in the hearing.

When the submersible was reported overdue, rescuers rushed ships, planes and other equipment to an area about 435 miles (700 kilometers) south of St. John’s, Newfoundland. Wreckage of the Titan was subsequently found on the ocean floor about 330 yards (300 meters) off the bow of the Titanic, Coast Guard officials said.

Scheduled to appear later in the hearing are OceanGate co-founder Guillermo Sohnlein and former scientific director, Steven Ross, according to a list compiled by the Coast Guard. Numerous guard officials, scientists, and government and industry officials are also expected to testify. The U.S. Coast Guard subpoenaed witnesses who were not government employees, said Coast Guard spokesperson Melissa Leake.

Among those not on the hearing witness list is Rush’s widow, Wendy Rush, the company’s communications director. Asked about her absence, Leake said the Coast Guard does not comment on the reasons for not calling specific individuals to a particular hearing during ongoing investigations. She said it’s common for a Marine Board of Investigation to “hold multiple hearing sessions or conduct additional witness depositions for complex cases.”

OceanGate has no full-time employees at this time but will be represented by an attorney during the hearing, the company said in a statement. The company said it has been fully cooperating with the Coast Guard and NTSB investigations since they began.

The time frame for the investigation was initially a year, but the inquiry has taken longer. The ongoing Marine Board of Investigation is the highest level of marine casualty investigation conducted by the Coast Guard. When the hearing concludes, recommendations will be submitted to the Coast Guard’s commandant. The National Transportation Safety Board is also conducting an investigation.

Guard investigative board member Thomas Whalen, Coast, left, and Katie Williams, of the Coast Guard, right, huddle Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024, during a recess for the Titan marine board formal hearing, in North Charleston, S.C. (Andrew J. Whitaker/The Post And Courier via AP, Pool)

Exhibits are presented during the Titan marine board formal hearing inside the Charleston County Council Chambers Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024, in North Charleston, S.C. (Andrew J. Whitaker/The Post and Courier/Pool Photo via AP)

Exhibits are presented during the Titan marine board formal hearing inside the Charleston County Council Chambers Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024, in North Charleston, S.C. (Andrew J. Whitaker/The Post and Courier/Pool Photo via AP)

Former OceanGate's Director of Marine Operations, David Lochridge, center, testifies, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024, in front of the Titan marine board formal hearing inside the Charleston County Council Chambers, in North Charleston, S.C. (Andrew J. Whitaker/The Post And Courier via AP, Pool)

Board Chairman Jason Neubauer, left, and board member Thomas Whalen, of the investigative board for the Titan marine board formal hearing, speak with former OceanGate's Director of Marine Operations David Lochridge, foreground, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024, in North Charleston, S.C. (Andrew J. Whitaker/The Post And Courier via AP, Pool)

Board Chairman Jason Neubauer, left, and board member Thomas Whalen, of the investigative board for the Titan marine board formal hearing, speak with former OceanGate's Director of Marine Operations David Lochridge, foreground left, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024, in North Charleston, S.C. (Andrew J. Whitaker/The Post And Courier via AP, Pool)

Former OceanGate's Director of Marine Operations, David Lochridge, center, stands during his testimony, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024, for the Titan marine board formal hearing inside the Charleston County Council Chambers, in North Charleston, S.C. (Andrew J. Whitaker/The Post And Courier via AP, Pool)

This June 2023 image provided by Pelagic Research Services shows remains of the Titan submersible on the floor of the Atlantic Ocean. (Pelagic Research Services via AP)

In a still from from a video animation provided by the United States Coast Guard an illustration of the Titan submersible, right, is shown near the ocean floor of the Atlantic Ocean, as June 18, 2023 communications between the submersible and the support vessel Polar Prince, not shown, are represented at left. (United States Coast Guard via AP)

In a still from from a video animation provided by the United States Coast Guard an illustration of the Titan submersible, right, is shown near the ocean floor of the Atlantic Ocean, as June 18, 2023 communications between the submersible and the support vessel Polar Prince, not shown, are represented at left. (United States Coast Guard via AP)

Coast Guard's Thomas Whalen, left, speaks with Nicole Emmons, right, during a break for the Titan marine board formal hearing inside the Charleston County Council Chambers, Monday, Sept. 16, 2024, in North Charleston, S.C. (AP Photo/Mic Smith)

Coast Guard's Thomas Whalen speaks with another Coast Guard member during a break for the Titan marine board formal hearing inside the Charleston County Council Chambers, Monday, Sept. 16, 2024, in North Charleston, S.C. (AP Photo/Mic Smith)

Jason Neubauer, board chairman, of the investigative board for the Titan marine board formal hearing pauses for a moment of silence inside the Charleston County Council Chambers Monday, Sept. 16, 2024, in North Charleston, S.C. (AP Photo/Mic Smith)

Coast Guard members of the investigative board for the Titan marine board formal hearing pause for a moment of silence inside the Charleston County Council Chambers Monday, Sept. 16, 2024, in North Charleston, S.C. (AP Photo/Mic Smith)

Coast Guard members of the investigative board for the Titan marine board formal hearing take an oath inside the Charleston County Council Chambers Monday, Sept. 16, 2024, in North Charleston, S.C. (AP Photo/Mic Smith)

A key employee who called the Titan unsafe will testify before the Coast Guard

FILE - This undated image provided by OceanGate Expeditions in June 2021 shows the company's Titan submersible. (OceanGate Expeditions via AP, File)

A key employee who called the Titan unsafe will testify before the Coast Guard