NEW YORK — A hobbled Juan Soto rose to his feet, staggering as an instrumental track from the “Rocky” soundtrack played over the Yankee Stadium speakers. The Yankees star crushed a dramatic go-ahead home run, flipping his bat toward the home dugout, and there would be more theatrics to come.
Austin Wells lifted a pinch-hit sacrifice fly that extended the night and Jazz Chisholm Jr. connected for his first career walk-off hit in the 11th inning as the Yankees defeated the Royals, 4-3, on Wednesday in the Bronx.
Facing Kris Bubic, Chisholm rapped a hard grounder to shortstop Bobby Witt Jr., who made an impressive stop but threw home wide as pinch-runner Jon Berti dived in with the deciding run. In the American League East, the Yankees moved 1 1/2 games ahead of the second-place Orioles, who were walked off by the Red Sox at Fenway Park.