The New York Yankees (41-25) wasted no time jumping on the Kansas City Royals (34-34) on Wednesday night, plating five early runs and riding a dominant start from Clarke Schmidt to a 6-3 victory at Kauffman Stadium.
New York broke through in the second inning against Kris Bubic, who entered the night with a league-leading 1.43 ERA. Cody Bellinger sparked the rally with a leadoff triple before scoring on an Anthony Volpe fielder’s choice. Austin Wells followed with an RBI double, and Paul Goldschmidt added a two-run single. Ben Rice capped the inning with an RBI knock of his own, giving the Yankees a 5-0 lead after a 41-pitch frame from Bubic.
That was more than enough for Schmidt, who delivered six scoreless innings. The right-hander allowed just two hits, struck out seven, and leaned on sharp breaking stuff to keep Kansas City off balance. He also got help from Trent Grisham, who made a few highlight-reel plays in center field.
Aaron Judge added insurance in the seventh, blasting his 25th home run of the season to extend the lead to 6-0. Judge is now batting .394 and remains on a 61-homer pace.
A rocky ninth forced Aaron Boone to turn to Devin Williams after the Royals plated three runs, two on a Salvador Perez homer and another aided by a defensive miscue. But, Williams slammed the door with a strikeout and a groundout.
The Yankees will look to sweep the Royals for the second time this season on Thursday at 7:40 p.m. with Will Warren facing off against Kansas City’s Seth Lugo.
Kyle leads sports coverage and hosts the Concrete Jungle podcast. Have a lead or question? Send it to [email protected].