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Cabrera, Hosmer help Royals take down Yanks

May 13, 2011 - 7:36 AM Bronx, NY (Sports Network) - Melky Cabrera and Eric Hosmer belted solo homers and knocked in two runs apiece, leading the Kansas City Royals to an 11-5 win over the New York Yankees in the rubber match of a three-game series.

Billy Butler and Alcides Escobar also had two runs batted in for the Royals, who won a series in the Bronx for the first time since 1999. Butler had four hits.

"To come in here and take two out of three was good for us," said Royals manager Ned Yost.

Kansas City starter Sean O'Sullivan (2-2) was perfect through 4 1/3 innings until giving up a Robinson Cano homer in the fifth. He yielded four runs on six hits and two walks in 6 2/3 innings for the win.

Alex Rodriguez also homered for the Yankees, who have dropped six of their last nine games. Starter Ivan Nova (3-3) lasted just three-plus innings, giving up eight runs -- four earned -- and 10 hits for the loss.

While O'Sullivan mowed through the New York lineup, the Royals got all the runs they needed in a six-run second inning.

Hosmer lined the first pitch of the inning over the right field wall for his second homer of the season. Mike Aviles and Jeff Francoeur added RBI singles, Cabrera hit an RBI double, Butler had an RBI ground out and another run scored on catcher Francisco Cervelli's bad pickoff attempt -- one of several fielding errors by the Yankees in the inning.

"We just gave them too many outs. And you can't beat teams when you give them extra outs," said Yankees manager Joe Girardi.

Cabrera, the former Yankee, led off the fourth inning with his fifth homer of the season, hammering a 1-0 pitch over the right field wall. The Royals scored another run on just two more pitches: Alex Gordon doubled and came home on Butler's single to make it 8-0 and chase Nova from the game for reliever Amaury Sanit.

"I can definitely get used to [winning in New York]," said Hosmer. "It's fun when the crowd leaves early and you put up a good amount of runs on them in the first innings."

Despite not registering a strikeout, O'Sullivan retired the first 13 batters he faced until Cano drilled an off-speed pitch into the right field seats with one out in the fifth inning for his ninth homer of the season.

It opened the floodgates, if only for an inning. Nick Swisher followed with a double, Brett Gardner singled and O'Sullivan walked Eduardo Nunez to load the bases. Cervelli hit a two-run double and Derek Jeter lofted a sacrifice fly to right field, pulling the Yankees within 8-4.

Butler singled in the sixth, moved to third base on a wild pitch and Francoeur ground out, then scored on Hosmer's double to make it 9-4.

Kansas City extended its lead to 11-4 on Escobar's two-run double in the eighth. Rodriguez belted his sixth homer of the season in the bottom of the inning for the final margin.

Game Notes

Blake Wood replaced O'Sullivan in the seventh and finished the game, giving up one run and two hits in 2 1/3 innings...The Royals continue their six-game road trip in Detroit this weekend...Cano started despite being drilled in the helmet by a pitch in Wednesday's 11-inning loss...The Yankees will host the Red Sox this weekend.