Perez's homer off Rodón sparks 4-run 4th inning and Royals beat Yankees 4-2 in Game 2 to tie ALDS

NEW YORK (AP) — Salvador Perez homered leading off the fourth inning to spark a four-run rally against Carlos Rodón, and the Kansas City Royals beat the New York Yankees 4-2 on Monday night to even their AL Division Series at one game apiece.

Four relievers held New York in check after an inconsistent Cole Ragans lasted four innings. Tommy Pham, Garrett Hampson and Maikel Garcia singled in runs for the Royals.

Garcia, moved up from ninth to first in Kansas City's batting order, had four hits.

Game 3 in the best-of-five playoff is Wednesday night at Kansas City, the Royals’ first postseason home game since the 2015 World Series.

“It’s basically like a brand-new series when we get to the K,” Ragans said, referring to Kauffman Stadium.

Yankees slugger Aaron Judge went 1 for 3 with an infield single and is 1 for 7 with four strikeouts in the series. Kansas City star Bobby Witt Jr., expected to finish second to Judge in AL MVP voting, was 0 for 5 with three strikeouts, dropping to 0 for 10 in the series.

All four Division Series opened 1-1 for the first time since the round started in 1995.

Giancarlo Stanton put the Yankees ahead with an RBI single in the third, but New York went 1 for 6 with runners in scoring position and is 3 for 19 in the two games.

“They were making their pitches when they needed to,” Judge said. “We've got to come through in those situations to kind of break it open.”

Ragans allowed just the one run and three hits, striking out five and walking four. Winning pitcher Angel Zerpa and John Schreiber each followed with a hitless inning before Kris Bubic threw two scoreless innings. Lucas Erceg worked the ninth for his third save this postseason.

Erceg gave up a leadoff homer to Jazz Chisholm Jr. and a two-out single to Jon Berti but retired Gleyber Torres on a grounder to end it with slugger Juan Soto on deck. Chisholm's homer was the first off Erceg since June 12, when he was still pitching for Oakland.

Perez, at 34 the only remaining Royals player from their 2015 championship team, tied the score when he drove a 2-0 slider into the left-field seats. The nine-time All-Star entered 12 for 26 (.462) with three homers off Rodón, an old AL Central rival when he pitched for the Chicago White Sox.

“He falls behind him, and from there started making some mistakes with his secondary (pitches) just in the heart of the plate," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said.

Yuli Gurriel singled, advanced on a wild pitch and scored on Pham’s one-out single for a 2-1 lead, prompting cheers from NFL fans at the Kansas City Chiefs' home game against New Orleans at Arrowhead Stadium. Pham stole second and scored on a two-out single by Hampson.

Garcia greeted Ian Hamilton with an RBI single that put the Royals ahead 4-1.

Rodón, lined up to pitch a potential Game 5, gave up four runs and seven hits in 3 2/3 innings with seven strikeouts and no walks. Twenty-four of the 32 home runs he has allowed this season have been solo shots.

“Obviously, I want to be better than that — especially how the first three innings went,” Rodón said. “I wouldn’t say I tired out. Just got to be better with those pitches, just more fine with them and get to better spots.”

TRAINER’S ROOM

Yankees: LHP Nestor Cortes (left flexor strain) took a step forward when he played catch Sunday, Boone said.

UP NEXT

Yankees RHP Clarke Schmidt (5-5, 2.85 ERA) makes his first postseason start Wednesday. He was 0-2 with an 11.75 ERA in three relief appearances during the 2022 playoffs.

Seth Lugo (16-9, 3.00) is scheduled to start for the Royals. He struck out 10 over seven innings of three-hit ball in a 5-0 win at Yankee Stadium on Sept. 10.

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

The date 06/10/2020 is displayed on Kansas City Royals pitcher Lucas Erceg's (60) glove during the ninth inning of Game 2 of the American League baseball playoff series against the New York Yankees, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Kansas City Royals pitcher Lucas Erceg, right, and pitcher Lucas Erceg react after defeating the Baltimore Orioles 2-1 in Game 2 of an AL Wild Card Series baseball game, Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024 in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

Kansas City Royals pitcher Lucas Erceg (60) and catcher Salvador Perez (13) celebrate after beating the New York Yankees in Game 2 of the American League baseball playoff series, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Kansas City Royals outfielder Tommy Pham (22) heads for first base on an RBI single against the New York Yankees during the fourth inning of Game 2 of the American League baseball playoff series, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Kansas City Royals Garrett Hampson (2) scores on a hit against the New York Yankees during the fourth inning of Game 2 of the American League baseball playoff series, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Kansas City Royals' Salvador Perez (13) reacts after hitting a solo home run against the New York Yankees during the fourth inning of Game 2 of the American League baseball playoff series, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Kansas City Royals' Salvador Perez (13) connects for a solo home run against the New York Yankees during the fourth inning of Game 2 of the American League baseball playoff series, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Kansas City Royals' Salvador Perez (13) celebrates with Yuli Gurriel (18) after hitting a solo home run against the New York Yankees during the fourth inning of Game 2 of the American League baseball playoff series, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Kansas City Royals' Salvador Perez (13) reacts after hitting a solo home run against the New York Yankees during the fourth inning of Game 2 of the American League baseball playoff series, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

UConn coach Geno Auriemma moved into a tie with Tara VanDerveer for the most appearances with one school in the women’s basketball AP Top 25 as the Huskies remained seventh in the poll Monday.

Auriemma has now led UConn to 627 appearances in the poll in his 40 years at the school, matching VanDerveer’s mark at Stanford before her retirement. She also had Ohio State ranked 27 times when the Hall of Fame coach was in charge of that school before joining the Cardinal and holds the overall record by a coach for appearances in the poll.

Auriemma passed VanDerveer’s NCAA record career win total earlier in the season and has 1,224 victories now after his team routed Providence on Sunday.

After a week where many schools played only a single game, UCLA, South Carolina and Notre Dame remained the top three teams and the first 18 schools were unchanged. The Bruins, Gamecocks and Irish all had routs in their lone games of the week, winning by an average of nearly 41 points. Every school in the country was off last week until Friday — a chance to recharge for the three-month sprint to the NCAA Tournament.

UCLA received 30 of the 32 first-place votes from a national media panel. South Carolina and Notre Dame each garnered one. USC, Texas and LSU followed Notre Dame. Maryland was eighth, finally putting away Michigan State to remain unbeaten with the 72-66 victory on Sunday.

Oklahoma and Ohio State rounded out the first 10 teams. The Sooners have a busy week ahead with games against rival Texas and No. 15 Tennessee on the road. It's the first SEC road test for Oklahoma and could prove to be a high-scoring game.

Michigan State dropped two spots to No. 21 after falling to Maryland, which moved Alabama and California both up a spot. Michigan's loss at USC dropped the Wolverines one place to 24th with Iowa moving up to 23rd.

South Carolina extended its home winning streak to 65 games with a victory over Wofford on Sunday. The Gamecocks are four victories short of making the top five all-time home streaks. Baylor, UConn and Tennessee all won 69 straight games at home to tie for the fourth longest all-time in Division I history. The Huskies hold the top two marks with 99 and 98-game runs. Stanford is third (82).

The Southeastern Conference finished off 2024 with eight teams in the poll for the second consecutive week to lead the way. The Big Ten is next with seven. The ACC has six while the Big 12 has three and the Big East one.

Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP women’s college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball

UConn guard Kaitlyn Chen, left, talks with UConn head coach Geno Auriemma, right, in the second half of an NCAA college basketball game against Southern California, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024, in Hartford, Conn. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)