{"id":8889,"date":"2010-08-15T11:22:14","date_gmt":"2010-08-15T10:22:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/baseballgb.co.uk\/?p=8889"},"modified":"2010-08-18T20:14:18","modified_gmt":"2010-08-18T19:14:18","slug":"bbc-5-live-sports-extra-new-york-yankees-v-kansas-city-royals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/baseballgb.co.uk\/?p=8889","title":{"rendered":"BBC 5 Live Sports Extra: New York Yankees v Kansas City Royals"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"MLBLogo\"UPDATE: So much for this preview! BBC has now changed<\/a> the game to Padres-Giants at 21.00<\/strong><\/p>\n

The New York Yankees make their debut on BBC radio this evening as the current leaders of the American League East division take on the Kansas City Royals.<\/p>\n

Coverage begins at 19.00 on DAB radio and Digital TV, with first pitch at Kauffman Stadium set for 19.10.<\/p>\n

Fans of the major east coast teams have been a little disappointed so far that their sides have not been featured much on the BBC show.\u00c2\u00a0 That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been a product of the scheduled start time, as east coast day-games generally begin at just gone 18.00 and the 19.00 start therefore means that teams from the mid-west have taken precedent.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

This is the first time since BBC\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s coverage began that the Yankees have been on the road at a central team on a Sunday and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s no surprise that they have immediately been chosen as the game of the week.<\/p>\n

The Yankees lived up to their nickname as the Bronx Bombers yesterday as they slugged five home runs off the Royals\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 pitching staff in an 8-3 victory.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

Three of those bombs can courtesy of Alex Rodriguez.\u00c2\u00a0 He went through a high-profile home run drought after he hit his 599th career long ball against the Royals on 22 July.\u00c2\u00a0 Like a batsman whose fluency deserts him as he enters the 90s, A-Rod understandably let the pressure of hitting number 600 get to him a bit.\u00c2\u00a0 Now that he has passed that mark, such thoughts are no longer clouding his mind and the Royals paid for it yesterday.\u00c2\u00a0 Jorge Posada and Curtis Granderson also hit back-to-back jacks as Kauffman Stadium turned into souvenir city.<\/p>\n

While the Yankees sit at the top of the AL East, two games ahead of the Tampa Bay Rays, the Kansas City Royals are having another season of struggles in the AL Central.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Royals haven\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t made it back to the postseason since they won their only World Series in 1985 and they have only won more games than they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve lost in a season once in the last fifteen years (83-79 in 2003).\u00c2\u00a0 There is now a glimmer of light at the end of this depressingly long tunnel as the Royals\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 farm system, the young players within their Minor League organizations, is rated as one of the best, if not the best, of all the MLB teams.\u00c2\u00a0 The Big League team has also showed signs of improvement since former Milwaukee Brewers manager Ned Yost took over from Trey Hillman thirty-five games into the season.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

Today\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s game is the fourth and final game of the series, with the Yankees\u00c2\u00a0leading 2-1.<\/p>\n

Today\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s starters<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"New<\/a><\/div>\n