KANSAS CITY, Mo. — It rained here Sunday morning, and blue tarps still covered the Kauffman Stadium bullpen mounds in early afternoon when Sonny Gray threw his first pitch for the Yankees. More than two hours later, the tarp in the Yankees’ bullpen remained undisturbed, a subtle sign of Gray’s longest and most effective outing of the season.
Often disappointing since coming over last July in a trade from Oakland, the right-handed Gray carried a perfect game into the fifth inning and a two-hit shutout to the eighth. Kansas City cobbled a run in the eighth, Gray’s final inning, but the Yankees offense again overwhelmed the lackluster Royals in a 10-1 rout.