NEW YORK -- In the postseason, teams need their stars to be stars and a little help from unlikely places. That summed up the Royals’ four-run fourth inning in their 4-2 win over the Yankees in Game 2 of the American League Division Series on Monday night at Yankee Stadium.

An inning after the Yankees scored first off Royals ace Cole Ragans in the bottom of the third, Kansas City captain Salvador Perez got the run right back with a monster home run off New York starter Carlos Rodón, a Statcast-projected 402-foot shot to left field for Perez’s first postseason home run.

Perez is now 13-for-28 all time against Rodón with four home runs. No other hitter has more than three homers against Rodón (regular season and postseason).

That jump-started the Royals’ offense, with Yuli Gurriel knocking a single, going to second on a wild pitch, then scoring on Tommy Pham’s RBI single two batters later.

That jump-started the Royals’ offense, with Yuli Gurriel knocking a single, going to second on a wild pitch, then scoring on Tommy Pham’s RBI single two batters later.

Pham came home on No. 9 hitter Garrett Hampson’s single into left field, marking the center fielder’s third RBI this series after he came through with a pinch-hit single in Game 1. Hampson started just 59 games this season, with the Royals mainly using him as their backup center fielder, a defensive replacement and pinch-runner at times throughout 2024. But he drew the start on Monday against the lefty Rodón instead of left-handed hitter Kyle Isbel, consistent with what manager Matt Quatraro has done all year.

Hampson rewarded the move with two hits Monday in his first two at-bats, and the Royals rode that momentum to a solid start in Game 2.