The New York Yankees rallied to defeat the Kansas City Royals, 11-5, on Friday night at Yankee Stadium. With the victory, New York has taken the first two games of this four-game series.
Aaron Judge smacked his Major-League-leading 40th and 41st home runs, joining Babe Ruth as the only player in franchise history to hit 41 or more home runs before the end of July.
Anthony Rizzo gave New York an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first with his 24th home run of the season.
Judge launched a two-run homer into the left-field seats in the bottom of the third to make it 3-0.
In the top of the fifth, Kansas City plated five runs to grab a 5-3 lead. Whit Merrifield put the Royals on the board with a two-run single. Later in the inning, Salvador Perez drilled a go-ahead three-run home run over the center-field wall.
After a 23-minute rain delay, New York put up an eight-spot in the bottom of the eighth to regain the lead. Andrew Benintendi collected his first hit as a Yankee and first RBI with an infield single. Aaron Hicks followed that with a bases-loaded walk to tie the game, 5-5. Then, Isiah Kiner-Falefa put the Yankees on top with a run-scoring single. Jose Trevino added to the lead with an RBI groundout. Judge capped it off with a grand slam over the right-field wall to increase the lead to 11-5.
Judge finished with a three-hit night while Rizzo and Gleyber Torres each had a pair of hits.
Gerrit Cole started on for New York and surrendered five runs on seven hits over six innings while striking out nine.
Aroldis Chapman, Albert Abreu, and Wandy Peralta had scoreless outings in relief.
Nestor Cortes will get the ball on Saturday as the Yankees will try to secure a series win. The first pitch is set for 2:05 p.m.
Kyle leads sports coverage and hosts the Concrete Jungle podcast. Have a lead or question? Send it to [email protected].