Yankees’ Sonny Gray, Tyler Austin put on show in romp | Rapid reaction

Gray allowed just one run over eight innings and Austin homered twice in a 10-1 Yankees victory in Kansas City on Sunday.

KANSAS CITY — Who was that little fellow wearing a No. 55 Yankees road jersey Sunday afternoon at Kauffman Stadium?

It sure looked like Sonny Gray, but this version pitched nothing like the guy who mostly has been a big disappointment since the Yankees gave up three of their best prospects to get him from the Oakland Athletics last July 31.

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Turns out Gray really can be something special.

Of course, the opponent was the Kansas City Royals, who have gone from 2015 World Series champs to present-day pathetic, but so what.

Before running out of gas in the eighth inning, Gray was commanding all of his pitches, getting ahead of hitters and making it look easy in a 10-1 Yankees cakewalk that made it eight series wins in a row.

First baseman Tyler Austin was the Yankees’ biggest hitting star with two long homers off Royals starter Eric Skoglund, but Gray finally reverting to his Oakland heyday form was the big story.

Gray (3-3) retired the first 14 hitters he faced in a one-run, eight-inning gem in which he allowed four hits, struck out five, walked one and hit a batter.

And, yes, Gray again was throwing to personal catcher Austin Romine in lowering his ERA from 6.39 to 5.48. 

Gray, who left after eight innings with his pitch count at 92, has a 4.08 ERA over his last five starts working with Romine.

Gray lost his perfect game with two outs in the fifth when Royals first baseman Hunter Dozier blooped a single to center.

The Yankees took a 2-0 lead in the fourth inning on Austin’s first homer of the day, a 440-foot blast to left that followed Aaron Hicks’ leadoff walk.

The next inning, Austin hit another two-run homer to make it a 6-0 game after Hicks tripled in a run, this one a 405-footer to dead center.

A few days ago, Austin was slumping and seemed to be a good bet to be optioned to Triple-A when Greg Bird comes off the disabled list in a week or so.

A mini hot streak later, Austin could be safe and fellow platoon first baseman Neil Walker appears to be in danger of being designated for assignment (and then probably traded).

Austin is 6 for 10 with three homers in his last three games and now is hitting .264 with eight homers and 23 RBIs in 91 at-bats compared to Walker’s .211 with no homers and 11 RBIs in 109 at-bats.

NOTABLE

— Rookie third baseman Miguel Andujar was 3 for 4 with a single, double and his fourth homer of the season, a solo shot in the ninth inning of Royals reliever Jason Adam.

— Center fielder Aaron Hicks hit cleanup for the first time in his career and was 2 for 4 with an RBI triple and a walk.

— Romine followed Andujar’s homer with his first of the season, a blast to center that capped his 3-for-5 afternoon.

— Right fielder Aaron Judge was 0 for 4 with a strikeout and walk. He’s now is hitless in 15 at-bats over his last four games. His average is down to .282, the lowest it’s been since April 3.

— Shortstop Didi Gregorius, mired in a 1-for-52 slump, was benched for the second game in a row. He’ll be back in the lineup on Monday when the Yankees open a road series against the Texas Rangers.

— Bird, whose rehab assignment was transferred from Double-A Trenton to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Sunday, appears to be just a few days away from being activated from the disabled list. “I think it’s reasonable sometime within the next week you will see him,” manager Aaron Boone said Sunday. Recovering from March ankle surgery, Bird traveled on Sunday to Pawtucket, R.I. to meet up with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, which begins a four-game series there on Monday night.

LOOKING AHEAD

Monday: Yankees at Texas Rangers, 8:05 p.m., EST, WPIX. RHP Masahiro Tanaka (4-2, 4.73) vs. RHP Bartolo Colon (2-1, 2.82).

Tuesday: Yankees at Texas Rangers, 8:05 p.m., EST, YES. RHP Domingo German (0-1, 4.26) vs. LHP Cole Hamels (2-4, 3.48).

Wednesday: Yankees at Texas Rangers, 7:05 p.m., EST, YES. LHP CC Sabathia (2-1, 2.40) vs. RHP Doug Fister (1-4, 3.43).

Randy Miller may be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @RandyJMiller. Find NJ.com on Facebook.