Still, it was a remarkable turnaround for a club that went from a laughing stock with 106 losses a year ago to its first postseason appearance since winning the 2015 World Series. And now young stars like Bobby Witt Jr. have signed long-term deals, there is hope in Kansas City that this was a beginning rather than an end.

New York set the tone from the start, attacking Wacha like in the series opener. Torres hit the veteran right-hander’s first pitch of the game for a double, and Soto followed with an RBI single on just the third pitch of the night.

Anthony Volpe kept the pressure on with his single in the fifth. And after Alex Verdugo grounded into a force out and Jon Berti singled to put runners on the corners, Torres lined with two outs to make it 2-0 and end Wacha’s evening.

Meanwhile, Cole only seemed to get stronger as he closed out innings.

The reigning Cy Young Award winner retired his first six batters, worked around a leadoff single in the third and retired eight more before Tommy Pham’s single in the fifth. Cole promptly retired Kyle Isbel on three pitches to end that inning.

Stanton, who hit the go-ahead homer in the eighth inning in Game 3, extended the lead to 3-0 with his single in the sixth.

The tensions that had simmered all night — and all series, after Yankees third baseman Jazz Chisholm called the Royals’ win in Game 2 “lucky” — finally boiled over in the sixth. Volpe hit a hard hit on Maikel Garcia at second base to complete a double play, and the Royals’ third baseman took offense. Players left both dugouts before order was restored.

The near-fracas also nearly set Kansas City on fire. Witt, who had been 1 for 15 in the series, followed with a single and Vinnie Pasquantino — who had been 0 for 14 — had an RBI double. But as the sellout crowd of 39,012 at Kauffman Stadium was sent into a sudden frenzy, Cole got Salvador Perez to lazily pop to second base to end the inning.

Cole’s night ended after he got Isbel to fly to the warning track with a runner on board to end the seventh, a deep shot to right field that would have been a game-tying homer if it had hit that part of Yankee Stadium.

New York’s bullpen did the rest.

Reporting by Associated Press.

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