Clay Holmes blows save as Yankees lose to Royals

KANSAS CITY — Aaron Judge has had a month for the history books, but Juan Soto’s impact since his return has been immeasurable.

After entering the seventh on the wrong side of a no-hitter, New York erased a two-run deficit with a three-run frame in the eighth before Clay Holmes’ blown save led to a 4-3 loss Thursday afternoon at Kauffman Stadium.

Soto attempted to secure the club’s first four-game sweep at The K twice, first by breaking up the no-hitter with a single to right to lead off the seventh, then with the go-ahead RBI on a hard-hit ground ball to right in the eighth. Soto has reached base in all four games, and scored six runs, since coming back from left arm inflammation.

The Yankees entered with a Major League-best 356 runs scored and had averaged nearly nine runs a game throughout the first three contests against the Royals. But they had a chance to rally in the eighth because of Nestor Cortes.

The left-hander, who entered with a 6.17 ERA across seven road starts vs. a 1.77 mark in seven outings at home, tossed seven innings of two-run ball. It was the 60th time in 71 games this season that a Yankees starter has allowed three earned runs or fewer. Cortes struck out only two, but he faced three or four batters in five of his seven frames, with both Royals runs coming on a double from Vinnie Pasquantino in the fourth.

But Holmes, who entered with 19 saves, allowed a two-run walk-off double to Maikel Garcia. Despite the loss, the Yankees took three of four from the Royals. Judge, who entered with a league-best 37-game on-base streak, had his run end with a four-strikeout day.