The Yankees did not reach second base Tuesday and did not take an at-bat with a runner in scoring position until the seventh inning Wednesday.
That at-bat, from Jose Trevino, ended in a crushing double play.
They needed 11 innings to tally six hits, their offense quiet against quality Royals pitching.
But the Yankees escaped with a series victory anyway because Juan Soto only needs one foot, their bullpen was excellent and they found a way late.
After excellent extra-inning work from Luke Weaver, Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s infield single in the 11th inning scored Jon Berti to deliver a 4-3, exhale of a walk-off win in front of 40,908 in The Bronx.
The Yankees (84-62) moved 1 ½ games above the Orioles in the AL East and took a series from the Royals before welcoming the Red Sox for four games.
In the winning frame, the Yankees executed.
Soto’s ground ball moved ghost-runner Berti to third, and after an Aaron Judge intentional walk, Chisholm smacked a ball to the left side.
It was speared by a diving Bobby Witt Jr., but his throw home was off line and the Yankees could celebrate.
The Yankees could celebrate in large part because Weaver held down the Kansas City offense in the top of the 11th.
The righty got Michael Massey to fly out before striking out Paul DeJong and Maikel Garcia, holding the ghost runner at second and roaring his way off the mound.
The Yankees’ offense was restrained by lefty Cole Ragans until the sixth inning.
After Gleyber Torres walked, Soto drilled a pitch off the top of his right, front foot.
The superstar hobbled about halfway to first base before taking a knee.
A team trainer examined the foot for a few tense minutes before Soto rose and made his way back to home plate to a loud round of applause.
Two pitches later, Soto demolished a 2-2 knuckle curve deep into the seats in right and watched it go for his 39th home run of the season, a two-run shot that gave the Yankees a lead they would not hold.
The Yankees were down early, surged ahead on the Soto dramatics and watched the Royals hang around with excellent defense and competent offense.
Clay Holmes coughed up a one-run lead in the seventh, when he allowed singles to Kyle Isbel and Tommy Pham before a pair of fly outs advanced Isbel all the way home.
Holmes, who has lost his closer role, was booed.
In the bottom of the inning, Anthony Volpe reached second and Oswaldo Cabrera (pinch-running for Anthony Rizzo) attempted a double-steal with one out.
Trevino hit a chopper toward first base that Salvador Perez first grabbed and then lunged, just managing a tag on a swerving Trevino, before spinning to throw home.
Perez needed to execute perfectly to throw Volpe out at home, and he did: A well-placed dart guided catcher Freddy Fermin’s glove right into a diving Volpe for a crushing double play.
The game remained tied until the 10th thanks to good work from Tommy Kahnle and Jake Cousins.
Cousins got the ninth and walked Pham with two outs, bringing up Bobby Witt Jr. But Cousins picked off Pham to take the bat out of the star’s hands.
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The teams traded runs in the 10th, when a wild pitch from Cousins gave the Royals a brief lead before a pinch-hitting Austin Wells lofted a fly ball down the left-field line that just traveled far enough to score Volpe from third.
Luis Gil survived through five innings in which he somehow let up just one run.
The righty did not have his best command or best stuff, but he rose when the moment did.
He threw nine straight balls in the first inning, when a pair of walks helped load the bases with one out.
But as became the trend, he struck out Fermin, got a ground out from Massey and escaped.
In the third, Pham reached second with one out but advanced no farther.
In the fifth, the Royals put two on base but a strong four-seamer to strike out MJ Melendez ended the inning and Gil’s night.
The Royals only scored against Gil in the fourth, when Massey ended a nine-pitch battle by destroying a homer off the face of the second deck in right.