Former Houston Astros star makes baseball history as a member of the Kansas City Royals

The Kansas City Royals evened the best-of-five series with the New York Yankees in the American League Division Series with a 4-2 win at Yankee Stadium on Monday night.

The Royals scored all of their runs in the fourth inning, aided by a start from left-hander Cole Ragans. The All-Star pitched just 4.0 innings and gave up one run on three hits. He walked four and struck out five while dealing with spot control.

Four relievers finished the game together and only gave up one run the rest of the game.

On offense, Salvador Perez hit his first home run of the postseason and first baseman Yuli Gurriel went 1-for-4.

This hit placed Gurriel on a prestigious list in playoff history, according to Cuban baseball insider Francys Romero:

Yuli Gurriel now ranks 11th all-time for most hits in postseason history with 90.

The 40-year-old Gurriel is in his eighth postseason with the Houston Astros and Royals. He helped the Astros win the World Series in both 2017 and 2022 and is a lifetime .265 postseason hitter.

Gurriel's run in Houston ended after the 2023 season and he signed with the Atlanta Braves, who assigned him to Triple-A. After suffering an injury to Vinnie Pasquantino in August, the Royals traded for Gurriel, who has been an integral part of the team.

With Kansas City, he hit .241 in 18 games. He had six RBI and provides a veteran presence in the lineup.

Game 3 of the series is Wednesday night.

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