Kansas City Royals have yet to solve NY Yankees. Here’s what happened Wednesday

It didn’t take long for the Yankees to seize control of Wednesday’s game against the Kansas City Royals.

The Yankees put six runs on the Kauffman Stadium scoreboard in a proverbial New York minute en route to an 11-5 victory in the third game of a four-game series.

The quick and decisive Yankees sent nine batters to the plate in the first inning. Outfielder Alex Verdugo hit a two-run single with the bases loaded and catcher Jose Trevino capped the first-inning onslaught with a three-run homer.

“Big innings are tough to come back from regardless,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said. “I mean, we’ve done it and we worked hard to try to get back in it tonight, as well. Made it somewhat interesting there and tried to put some guys on base. But we just couldn’t come through with the big hit a couple of times.”

The Royals had deployed Dan Altavilla as an opener. He allowed five runs while recording just one out. Bulk reliever Daniel Lynch IV inherited a bases-loaded situation and allowed another run as the Yankees led 6-0 after the first inning.

The Royals have allowed their opponent at least one run in the first inning in each of their last seven games. And there wouldn’t be an improbable comeback on Wednesday night, either.

“They have a good lineup,” Altavilla said. “You know, (I) just didn’t have a good day. I wish it went better, as it was my first start. But I’ll just show up tomorrow ready to go.”

The Royals fell to 39-30 and have been outscored 25-8 in the first three matchups of this series against AL East-leading New York. The Royals also have yet to record a quality start against the Yankees.

The left-handed Lynch didn’t fare much better than Altavilla. By the end of his 6 2/3-inning appearance, he had allowed six earned runs and surrendered a trio of homers. Yankees star Giancarlo Stanton tagged him with a two-run shot in the fifth inning and Gleyber Torres followed suit in the seventh.

Lynch did manage to save the bullpen some work in the loss.

“That is a different situation and I feel like I’m a starter,” Lynch said. “So I wanted to go out there and be on the attack, like, ‘Hey, I’m good enough to start games.’

“Obviously, I respect whatever decision the manager decides to make on that. But my mentality was, I wanted to go in there, and you know, say, ‘Hey, I’m a good starter. I’m good enough to go deep into games without having someone open for me.’”

Royals star Bobby Witt Jr. recorded two RBIs and sparked a three-run seventh inning. First baseman Vinnie Pasquantino added an RBI single and outfielder Kyle Isbel produced two hits from the ninth spot in the order.

But the Royals’ offense arrived too late. They struggled to solve Yankees starter Cody Poteet early and it cost them down the stretch. Poteet allowed two runs and picked up his third win of the season.

New York improved to 49-21 and will look for a series sweep in Thursday’s matinee game at Kauffman Stadium.

“Tomorrow’s a different day,” Quatraro said. “And I think the best thing about it is it’s a day game. So we don’t have to sit around thinking about it too long. Get out here early and get going.”

Missed previous games of the series?

Game 1: Seth Lugo hit with barrage of singles as Royals fall 4-2 to Yankees

Game 2: Yankees overpower Royals in 10-1 victory at Kauffman Stadium

Here are more notable aspects from Wednesday’s game:

Bobby Witt Jr. extends hitting streak

The Royals’ lineup recorded 11 hits but failed to overcome such a large deficit against their visitors.

In the sixth inning, Witt came through to put KC on the board. He laced an RBI double down the left-field line and outfielder Kyle Isbel scored from first base.

Witt recorded his 49th and 50th RBIs as he extended his hitting streak to 13 games. The current streak matches his career high, set during his rookie season.

“I think we had a lot of good at-bats, got into deep counts and then just kind of hit some balls at guys,” Witt said.

Witt finished 3-for-5 Wednesday. During the hitting streak, the Royals phenom is hitting .413 with seven extra-base hits, two home runs, 14 RBIs and 10 runs scored.

What’s next on the KC Royals’ schedule?

The Royals conclude their four-game home series against the Yankees. On Thursday, KC will send right-handed pitcher Alec Marsh to the mound.

Marsh is 5-3 with a 4.05 ERA this season. He has allowed eight earned runs in 9 ⅔ career innings against the Yankees.

New York will start southpaw Nestor Cortes in the series finale. Cortes sports a 3.68 ERA this season but has surrendered 12 home runs in 14 starts.