Pablo Reyes stumbled, stopped and still scrambled home safely on a wild play in the eighth inning, taking advantage of a throwing error by reliever Lucas Erceg to give the New York Yankees a 1-0 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Thursday night.

Judge announced his presence with two homers at Kauffman Stadium. He blasted a 469 foot home run that landed atop the scoreboard in left field. And the Yankees outscored the Royals 17-5 in the series. New York has won eight consecutive matchups against the Royals after Thursday’s 1-0 victory.

The Yankees will be going for a three-game sweep of the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium, with rookie right-hander Will Warren on the mound.

Aaron Judge nearly homered his way out of his first day off all year. Instead, in Game 67, the best hitter in baseball finally rested.

The Yankees’ choice for a call-up was sidewinder righty Scott Effross, who has pitched to a 12.71 ERA in five outings with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre after starting the season on the injured list with a hamstring strain.

Seth Lugo is on the mound for the Royals, and Judge’s history against him isn’t exactly glowing. He’s just 1-for-11 in his career against Lugo, with five strikeouts and no extra-base hits. That .091 batting average and .182 OPS are among Judge’s least productive matchups against any active starter.

The New York Yankees chase a three-game sweep as they take the field Thursday night in Kansas City for their series finale with the Royals.