Vasquez Deals a Loss to Royals

Javier Vazquez appeared to be on his way to a perfect night.

After trying to sneak a curveball past Ken Harvey, the New York Yankee right-hander settled for a mostly dominant outing.

Vazquez gave up two runs and two hits -- including Harvey’s homer in the fifth inning -- and the Yankees won their season-high fourth game in a row, 5-2, over the Kansas City Royals on Friday night at New York.

“I felt pretty good, but when you’re pitching, someone’s usually going to get a hit,” Vazquez said. “You’re not going to get a no-hitter every night you pitch. That’s just part of baseball. They’re going to hit home runs against you. You just have to forget about it and go on to the next one.”

Vazquez retired the first 13 batters he faced -- including five on infield popups -- before Harvey homered into the left-field seats on an 0-2 curveball to tie it at 1-1 in the fifth.

That ended the perfect game, the no-hitter and the shutout bid.

“I watched the scoreboard and I knew it, but that doesn’t matter to me,” Vazquez said.

The crowd of 43,327 at Yankee Stadium, sensing this was a night Vazquez (3-2) had special stuff, booed as Harvey rounded the bases.

Vazquez, acquired in the off-season from Montreal for Nick Johnson, Juan Rivera and Randy Choate, struck out five and didn’t walk a batter in eight innings.

“He just doesn’t seem to get rattled,” Manager Joe Torre said. “He gives up the home run and then just gets it done.”

Other than Harvey’s homer, the only runners Vazquez allowed came when Tony Graffanino was hit by a pitch in the sixth and Mike Sweeney doubled in the seventh.

With the victory, the Yankees set a major league record with their 13th consecutive winning April, going 11-10 in the month. They shared the previous mark of 12 with the 1941-52 Yankees.