Royals 2, Yankees 1: Lorenzo Cain and Mike Moustakas had RBIs in the second inning and host Kansas City made the early lead stand up to beat New York for the second straight day.

James Shields (7-3) pitched out of numerous jams, striking out eight and allowing one (unearned) run on six hits over six innings to improve to 9-15 lifetime versus the Yankees. Two relievers bridged the gap to closer Greg Holland, who stranded the tying run at third base to record his 18th save.

Ichiro Suzuki had a pair of hits and drove in the only run for New York, which left nine on base and finished 1-for-17 with runners in scoring position. Hiroki Kuroda (4-4) gave up two runs on five hits over seven innings and retired the final 11 batters he faced for the Yankees, who will look to salvage a four-game split in Monday's series finale.

The Royals strung together three straight two-out hits in the second to push across both runs. Catcher Salvador Perez singled and came home on Cain's double to the gap in right-center before Moustakas dropped a run-scoring single into left-center.

New York repeatedly had Shields on the ropes, failing to score with the bases loaded and none out in the second inning and leaving the tying run on third in both the seventh and ninth innings. The Yankees pushed across their lone run in the sixth on Yangervis Solarte's one-out double, a passed ball and Suzuki's groundout.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Suzuki collected his 2,774th and 2,775th major-league hits to move past Andre Dawson and into sole possession of 50th place on the all-time list. ... Royals LF Alex Gordon went 0-for-2 to halt his six-game hitting streak. ... Yankees CF Jacoby Ellsbury led off the third inning with a double, giving him hits in 13 consecutive games.