Royals' Game 2 win over Yankees comes with major advantage for remainder of ALDS

After suffering a 6-5 loss in Game 1 of the American League Division Series on Saturday night, the Kansas City Royals desperately needed to take Game 2 to avoid a two-game deficit. Not only did the team beat the New York Yankees, 4-2, to even the series on Monday, but their fierce performance rattled their opponent, putting the Royals in a great position for the upcoming games.

The NY Yankees burned their bullpen to keep the KC Royals from a stronger lead

After the Royals scored their first three runs in the fourth inning of Game 2, the Yankees pulled starter Carlos Rodón from the mound, turning to their bullpen to stop Kansas City from strengthening their lead. New York brought out reliever Ian Hamilton to pitch with Garrett Hampson already on second base, and while he couldn't stop Hampson scoring the fourth run of the inning, he did manage to get out of the fourth without the lead extending any further.

Hamilton stayed on the mound for New York through the fifth inning before being replaced by Jake Cousins, who only managed one out before being pulled for Tim Hill. By the time the game ended, the Yankees had utilized four more relievers — Clay Holmes, Tommy Kahnle, Tim Mayza, and Luke Weaver — leaving Luis Gil as the only pitcher in their ALDS bullpen that didn't make an appearance.

Going into Game 3, the Yankees will need starter Clarke Schmidt to pitch deep to avoid having to use the now-overworked bullpen. Gil, who has been utilized as a starter through the regular season but is in the bullpen for the ALDS, is expected to be called upon after Schmidt's outing, but outside of that, Yankees manager Aaron Boone will be hoping the team's relievers are as rested as they can be.

Kansas City walked away from Saturday's game with the win over New York, tying the series 1-1 as the teams head to Kauffman Stadium. By forcing the Yankees to burn through their bullpen in Game 2, the Royals are going into Game 3 in a great position — assuming their offense comes in hot enough to take advantage.

KC Royals have NY Yankees rattled going into Game 3

Going into the ALDS, the Yankees were heavily favored to advance — though that didn't concern Royals manager Matt Quatraro, who told USA Today's Bob Nightengale that being the favorite to win "doesn't matter when you get out on the field."

"Thankfully we're not playing against their tradition, right?" Quatraro said. "We're playing against the team that we're facing off against this week. That's going to be plenty of a challenge. We understand how talented they are, but nobody gets to this point in the offseason or the postseason without being talented and being a good team. We take it as a challenge."

Even when the Yankees won Game 1, the Royals made it clear with five lead changes that they weren't going down without a fight. Now having won Game 2 to tie the series, Kansas City has proven they can hang — but Royals captain Salvador Pérez is careful not to get ahead of himself.

"It's not about one inning, it's not about one pitch," Pérez told the MLB Network. "It's about nine innings, 27 outs."