updated 12:37 a.m. ET June 3, 2005

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - It was a terrible time for the New York Yankees to play a terrible team.

The Yankees were swept by the worst team in baseball, falling 5-2 to the Kansas City Royals on Thursday night for their first five-game losing streak in more than two years.

It’s the third time in their storied history the Yankees had been swept in three games by the team with the worst record in the majors. The other times were in 2000 by Detroit and 1937 by the Philadelphia A’s.

New York, after winning 16 of 18, still faces stops in Minneapolis, Milwaukee and St. Louis in its longest road trip of the year.

“You’ve got to give the Royals credit,” said Joe Torre, who held a closed-door meeting with his team on Wednesday night.

“But again, when you have the ability that we have on this club, I think it’s more an emphasis on our inability to win than somebody else’s ability to win. And I take nothing away from the opposition because I understand how hard it is to play this game.

“I hoped we could limit it to a two-game losing streak. Now we have to limit it to a five-game losing streak.”

The lowly Royals were energized — maybe even a bit intimidated — by a tough-talking new manager who’s made it clear he will not tolerate careless mistakes. All of a sudden, nobody’s job seemed secure.

Kansas City completed its first three-game sweep at home of the Yankees in 15 years.

“I think the most important thing is we finished these games off,” said Terrence Long, who hit one of two home runs off Carl Pavano. “That was the biggest thing. We went to late innings with the lead and we finished it off.”

Might the Yankees have taken the Royals lightly? Their payroll of more than $200 million dwarfs the Royals’, which is not quite $40 million. Despite their three-game sweep, the Royals’ record of 16-37 is still the worst in the majors.

“I don’t think we take any team for granted,” said the tight-lipped Pavano, who was the loser in last week’s 17-1 debacle against Boston. “You can’t. This is baseball.”

Still, the Royals weren’t sure.

“It’s possible,” said reliever Mike Wood, who pitched two innings of one-hit relief behind Ryan Jensen (2-1). “They have nine veterans who start every game. I don’t want to say they did because I want to know we beat them at their hardest. I’m going to say they didn’t take us lightly.”

The Royals had gone 78 series without sweeping anyone, the longest drought in the majors since the Phillies went 79 series without a sweep from 1996-97.

“It’s always nice to beat the Yankees, but throw the sweep in and it just adds a plus to everything,” said Jensen, who was called up from Triple-A last month for his first major league appearance since 2003.

Jensen went five innings, giving up two runs and four hits with one walk and four strikeouts.

Rookie reliever Ambiorix Burgos got three outs for his second save, retiring pinch-hitter Ruben Sierra on a groundout with the bases loaded to end it.

Royals outfielder Shane Costa, making his major league debut, had his first RBI and his first hit, and rookie third baseman Mark Teahen had an RBI single.

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