KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Derek Jeter belted a two-run homer, CC Sabathia went eight innings for the third straight time and the Yankees beat the Kansas City Royals 6-2 on an encouraging Friday night.
It began with closer Mariano Rivera’s announcement that he plans to return from a devastating knee injury rather than retire, and ended when David Robertson struck out the side in the ninth to give Sabathia (4-0) his fourth straight victory.
Jeter singled and scored on Mark Teixeira’s homer in the first inning, and then broke the game open with his fifth homer during a four-run seventh. Jeter hit only six homers all last year, his fifth coming on Sept. 4. He’s batting a robust .404 so far this season.
All the damage came against Royals left-hander Bruce Chen (0-4), who has lost four straight after getting saddled with a pair of no decisions to start the year.