KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Giancarlo Stanton hit a go-ahead homer in the eighth inning amid a battle for the bullpens, and the New York Yankees defeated the Kansas City Royals 3-2 Wednesday night in Game 3 of their AL Division Series at Kauffman Stadium .

Stanton finished with three hits, drove in two runs and stole a base for the first time in four years for the Yankees, who turned to six-time All-Star pitcher Gerrit Cole on Thursday night with a chance to reach the American League Championship Series.

The Royals used four relievers before Kris Bubic took over for the eighth. The southpaw struck out Austin Wells before Stanton hit his 3-1 pitch nearly 450 feet to left to give New York the lead.

Trying to beat Luke Weaver in the bottom half, the Royals got Bobby Witt Jr.’s first hit of the series and a two-out single from franchise stalwart Salvador Perez. Weaver recovered to get Yuli Gurriel to fly out to end the threat, and he also fielded the ninth to earn the save and cap off 4⅓ scoreless innings from the New York bullpen.

The Yankees won despite another frustrating night in the postseason for MVP frontrunner Aaron Judge. He went 0-for-4 with a walk, and is now 1-for-11 with just an infield single in three games against the Royals.

New York won by just four hits, the team’s fewest in a postseason win since 19 years ago to the day of October 9, 2005, in the ALDS against the Angels (also four hits).

It helped that the mighty Yankees drew nine walks on Wednesday night, giving them 22 for the series.

It was the K’s first playoff game in 3,268 days, since the Royals defeated the New York Mets in Game 2 of the 2015 World Series. A few days later, they won their first title in 30 years in New York.

That Royals team’s first baseman, Eric Hosmer, was on hand to deliver the first pitch to a crowd that included Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes.

The Yankees had some good swings against Seth Lugo’s dazzling nine-pitch sequence, but they weren’t showing any signs of it early.

Juan Soto flew to center in the first inning on what would have been a home run in 17 ballparks. Judge followed with a liner that had been tied up by Witt at a short stop and had an exit speed of 110 miles per hour. And in the third, Gleyber Torres hit a ball to the warning track in right, moments after a review confirmed that his would-be RBI blooper had gone foul down the line.

The Yankees broke through in the fourth on Stanton’s double – Soto came off first and scored, although he might have been out had Witt delivered a better relay throw to the plate. And in the fifth, Soto added a bases-loaded sacrifice fly.

The Royals answered with two in the fifth. Kyle Isbel got them on the board with a two-out double to left, and Michael Massey ripped a sinking liner that somehow missed Soto’s glove to right for an RBI triple.

Yankees starter Clarke Schmidt was fouled for both runs after four hits and a walk in 4⅔ innings. Lugo hit five for Kansas City, allowing two hits and walking four against a team that led the league in free passes this season.

Cole (8-5, 3.41 ERA) returns to the mound on Thursday night. He allowed four runs – three earned – over five innings in the opener Saturday night, but was denied a decision in the 6-5 win for New York.

Royals right-hander Michael Wacha (13-8, 3.35 ERA) will face Cole again after pitching just four innings on Saturday. He allowed three runs but was long gone by the time the Yankees scored the go-ahead run in the seventh.

ESPN Research and The Associated Press contributed to this report.