Royals starter Jason Vargas jerked his head back and to the left, tracking the flight of a baseball inside Yankee Stadium. For a moment, he locked his eyes on the spinning white orb before it disappeared into the upper deck in right field.
Vargas had unfurled a two-seam fastball on the inside corner in the bottom of the fourth inning. Yankees shortstop Didi Gregorius had released his hands and elevated it toward right field, a two-run blast that would serve as the tipping point in a 4-2 loss at Yankee Stadium on Monday night.
In the midst of the best start of his career, Vargas has run into his kryptonite.