The Royals’ latest loss to the Yankees did more than add another mark in the standings. It made Kansas City the owner of its longest losing streak ever against New York, 13 straight games after a Tuesday defeat in which the outcome was effectively settled before fans could get comfortable in their seats.
That is why Jazz Chisholm Jr. is being searched again now. He is the Yankee who drew a controversial safe call in Game 1 of the 2024 ALDS, a call replays suggested may have gone the other way, and then mocked the Royals after Kansas City won Game 2 by saying they had been lucky. The words linger because the Yankees answered by winning Games 3 and 4 to take the series, and the matchup has felt personal ever since.
The numbers behind the stretch are blunt. The Yankees have now beaten Kansas City 13 times in a row, passing the previous franchise mark of 12 straight losses to New York set by the 1997-98 Royals. Aaron Judge, Cody Bellinger and Ben Rice have each homered four times in that run, while Chisholm has added two of his own. Kansas City, meanwhile, has managed just a.177 team average across the skid.
That part is what makes the Royals’ slide sting beyond one bad week. They were in the playoffs in 2024, beat Baltimore, and then looked like a team on the rise even after the Yankees pushed them out of the ALDS. Since then, the gap has widened instead of closing. The Royals were swept in New York the next April, lost all six meetings in 2025 while scoring only 11 runs, then were swept again in a three-game set in the Bronx in 2026, outscored 24-6.
The last two losses only sharpened the point. Kansas City dropped Monday’s game on a devastating ninth inning and was beaten again Tuesday in a game that was all but over before the crowd settled in. Maikel Garcia has hit.106 during the streak, Kyle Isbel.083 and Isaac Collins has yet to get a hit in 13 at-bats. For a club that looked like a postseason arrival last fall, the Yankees have turned the matchup into a reminder that reputation and reality are not the same thing. The next meeting between these teams now carries the weight of one question Kansas City has not answered yet: how does this stop?
