Kansas City Royals, Greg Holland fall victim to Yankees walk-off win after late rally

Relief pitcher Greg Holland gave up a walk-off single to Luke Voit in the bottom of the ninth after the Kansas City Royals rallied to take the lead in the top half of the inning.

New York Yankees first baseman Voit, a native of Wildwood, Missouri, lined a Holland curveball off the left field wall and dealt the Royals a 6-5 loss in the second game of their three-game series Wednesday night in front of an announced 25,032 at Yankee Stadium.

“I just didn’t execute enough pitches,” Holland said. “I pride myself on not making two-strike mistakes, and that’s what burnt me with the first one and ultimately the game-winner. It’s just one of those things. We played well enough. We should have won that game. We didn’t. I’m disappointed about that.”

The teams will play the rubber match of the series on Thursday afternoon.

Carlos Santana’s 12th home run of the season broke a 2-2 tie in the top of the eighth inning but the Yankees scored twice in the bottom half off Jake Brentz.

In the ninth, Royals backup catcher Sebastian Rivero, who entered the game for Salvador Perez, drew a bases-loaded walk to force in the tying run with two outs against Yankees closer Aroldis Chapman, a six-time All-Star with a 100-mph fastball.

Then Ryan O’Hearn’s check swing made contact and served as a perfect bunt. O’Hearn hustled down the line and the Royals scored the go-ahead run.

“They put together some good at-bats, put pressure (on),” Royals manager Mike Matheny said. “Pressure is putting guys on base, then had a little luck and guys fighting through their at-bats, taking what they’re going to give them.

“Against the back end of any bullpen, if you’re able to scratch a couple across late it’s a great accomplishment — let alone a guy like this that doesn’t give up much.”

O’Hearn finished with three RBIs; his first-inning homer gave the Royals a 2-0 lead. Santana also had two hits.

In the bottom of the ninth, Holland gave up a game-tying home run to Gary Sanchez, uncorked a wild pitch that put the winning run in scoring position and then gave up the walk-off single to Voit.

“It was one of those situations where he had fouled off a few sliders in a row and I just wanted to change it up,” Holland said of the curveball Voit hit. “That ball was supposed to be in the dirt. Worst case scenario, we’ve got a 2-2 count. Best case scenario, he swings over the top of it. I had thought that pitch was pretty close to hitting the dirt, but it must not have been close enough because he hit it pretty hard off the wall.”

Royals starter Danny Duffy threw 42 pitches in two innings, and he didn’t allow a hit or a run. He walked three — all in the second inning — and struck out four in his first outing since May 12.

Six weeks removed from his last start, Duffy turned an abbreviated-yet-encouraging outing. He’ll continue to build up his pitch count as he goes, but he flashed a 96 mph fastball with good life complemented by a confounding changeup. He also mixed in some sharp breaking balls.

“It was nice to get out of that jam and hand the ball off,” Duffy said. “I would’ve liked to go one more, but I understand the pitch limitations. I feel like I burned the bullpen maybe more than I should have. I really would’ve loved to get a third in there, but they made the right decision with regards to the team, my overall health and the long-term for the rest of the season.”

Wednesday night, Duffy struck out the first two batters he faced. He got both D.J. LeMahieu and Aaron Judge to whiff on low changeups, and he got Sanchez to hit a weak pop-up to shortstop as he retired the side in order.

Duffy hit a speed bump in the second inning with three walks. The third walk, issued to Clint Frazier with two outs, loaded the bases and prompted manager Matheny to get right-hander Kyle Zimmer up in the bullpen.

Duffy finished the inning with his fourth and final strikeout of the day. Rougned Odor swung and missed at a 95 mph fastball. Zimmer took over at the start of the third inning.

“Everything felt really strong,” Duffy said. “I think my changeup — pretty much every pitch — left me in the second inning. My fastball got me through with the liveliness and the amount of ride that it had today. When I really needed to make a pitch, I did.”

Duffy wasn’t pleased with his walks in the second inning, but he believed it had more to do with mechanics than either fatigue or adrenaline due to the layoff.

The Yankees tied the score 2-2 in the fourth on Clint Frazier’s two-out, two-run double off of Royals reliever Carlos Hernández. Hernández walked the two batters who scored, and he walked three batters in two innings.

The Royals took a 3-2 lead in the eighth on Santana’s home run, which set up the wild finish.