The Yankees couldn't complete a four-game sweep, falling to the Royals by a score of 4-3 on Thursday afternoon in Kansas City.

Here are the key takeaways…

-The Yankees had battled back from a two-run deficit to take a 3-2 lead in the eighth inning, but Clay Holmes couldn't close the door in the ninth. After allowing a pair of base-runners to reach, the Royals had runners at the corners with two outs, and Maikel Garcia delivered with a double just inside the third-base line. The ball rolled into the left field corner, and both runners came around the score to give the Royals a rollercoaster win.

-Royals starter Alec Marsh kept the Yankees’ bats quiet through the first three innings, striking out four without allowing a hit. The right-hander kept rolling through the middle innings, striking Anthony Volpe out on an awkward swing on a fastball to get through the sixth without a hit on the board.

Marsh lost the no-hitter in the top of the seventh, as Juan Soto lined a clean single to right-center, but the 26-year-old got out of the inning unscathed. His day ended there, though, as he finished with 7.0 innings of one-hit ball, striking out seven while walking only two.

-Nestor Cortes was nearly just as good. The lefty allowed a pair of base-runners to reach in the fourth, and Vinnie Paquantino capitalized with a two-run double to left center, putting the Royals up 2-0. That was really the only trouble Cortes faced until the seventh inning. But he got out of that jam, ending his day with 7.0 innings pitched, allowing two earned runs on seven hits while walking two and striking out two.

-With Marsh out of the game in the eighth, the Yankees got on the board on one swing of the bat from Anthony Rizzo, who pulled a John Schreiber breaking ball over the wall in right for a solo homer, his first round-tripper since May 10. After that, the Yankees rallied to tie the game on a Volpe RBI groundout, and they took the lead on a Soto single to right.

After being completely silenced for seven innings, the Yankees scored three times in the eighth to take the lead, only to see it disappear in the ninth.

- Aaron Judge went an uncharacteristic 0-for-4 with four strikeouts.

Who was the game MVP?

Garcia, who delivered the game-winning hit with the Royals down to their last out.

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