Bring Out the Brooms! Yanks Sweep Royals
I don't think we're in Kansas (City) anymore
New York has dominated the American League Central in the last decade. Since 2022, the Yankees have a 22-5 record against the Kansas City Royals.
Their domination of the Royals continued with a three-game sweep at Kauffman Stadium from Tuesday to Thursday.
On Monday, the Yankees enjoyed their 16th five-run inning of the season, playing five of their 10 runs in the 10-2 win in the sixth inning.
Before that, in the first inning, Aaron Judge nuked a pitch 469 feet over the Royals’ Hall of Fame numbers in left field. The homer is too good not to watch again and again.
Judge finished 3-for-5 with three RBIs, and Jasson Dominguez picked up three hits as well. Austin Wells delivered a three-run shot, his 11th homer of the year, in the fourth inning.
Starter Max Fried went seven innings, throwing 61 of his 91 pitches for strikes, struck out four, and allowed a two-run home run to second baseman Jonathan India in the bottom of the second, the Royals’ lone runs of the game.
Let’s make five-run innings a regular thing, right? The Yankees accomplished the feat again, this time in the second inning of Wednesday’s 6-3 victory against a formidable opponent in lefty Kris Bubic.
Cody Bellinger kicked the five-run inning off with a triple, followed by an Anthony Volpe RBI forceout and a Wells RBI double. Paul Goldschmidt (aka Pauly Singles) followed with a two-run single, and Ben Rice made it 5-0 with an RBI single of his own.
All rise! Judge laced a line drive solo-shot in the seventh to extend the Yankees’ lead to six. The homer helped him reach base in 54 consecutive road games.
Starting pitcher Clarke Schmidt turned in an excellent performance on the mound, striking out seven with two hits allowed in six shutout innings. Schmidt’s brilliance was nearly forgotten in the ninth inning, as Mark Leiter Jr. allowed three earned runs out of the bullpen. Closer Devin Williams entered shortly after, relieving Yankees fans by securing two outs and the win.
Associated Press
A 28-minute rain delay on Thursday was not enough to keep Will Warren from returning and getting two more outs in the sixth inning, capping a scoreless outing with four strikeouts. Tim Hill, Leiter Jr., Jonathan Loaisiga, and Williams all contributed to a 1-0 win against one of the best starters in the AL, 2024 Cy Young runner-up Seth Lugo.
The Yankees’ run was scored in the eighth inning on a Paul Goldschmidt liner off first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino’s glove, which trickled away long enough to allow Pablo Reyes to scamper home from second base. However, there was some hesitation originally from Reyes, stopping between third base and home plate.
“Phew, we’ll take it,” manager Aaron Boone told reporters after the game.
Up Next
The Yankees and Red Sox meet again starting Friday, this time at Fenway Park in Boston.
Image Credit: D.J. LeMahieu (left) and Austin Wells celebrate after scoring on Paul Goldschmidt’s two-run single in the second inning of the Yankees’ 6-3 win over the Royals on June 11, 2025. William Purnell-Imagn Images
More to come!