Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton and Austin Wells homer as Yankees overpower Royals, 10-1
A night after they won with small ball, the Yankees returned to their power-hitting ways.
Austin Wells, red-hot Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton all homered in the Yankees’ 10-1 win in Kansas City, Mo., on Tuesday, providing more than enough offense for starter Marcus Stroman.
Wells’ three-run home run against Royals starter Brady Singer broke the game open in the fourth inning, traveling 417 feet to straightaway center field to put the Yankees up, 6-0.
Judge went even farther in the seventh, sending his two-run blast against reliever Nick Anderson 436 feet over Kauffman Stadium’s center-field wall to put the Yankees up 9-0 and continue his torrid stretch.
Stanton then hit the longest homer of the night, blasting a 446-foot solo shot off of Anderson, again to center field, in the seventh to punctuate the offensive explosion.
Judge’s home run was his MLB-leading 25th of the season and his fourth in his last three games. He also got the Yankees’ scoring started with an RBI single in the first inning.
With Tuesday’s 2-for-4 performance, Judge is hitting .407 with 21 home runs and 47 RBIs since April 27, a stretch of 41 games. He won American League Player of the Month in May and AL Player of the Week for June 3-9.
Judge received his first off day of the season on Monday. Clearly, it didn’t interrupt his timing.
Stanton also got the night off Monday. Tuesday’s home run — his 16th of the year — ended an 0-for-17 slide.
Wells’ home run, meanwhile, was the catcher’s second of the season and his first since April 30.
Behind the plate, Wells received an excellent outing by Stroman, who hurled 5 2/3 scoreless innings. The Royals struck out only once versus Stroman but went 0 for 6 with runners in scoring position against him.
The strong start served as a bounce back for Stroman, who surrendered a season-high five runs over 4 2/3 innings in his previous outing last week against the Twins. The Long Island-born Stroman is now 6-2 with a 2.82 ERA in his first season with the Yankees.
Tuesday’s fireworks followed a series-opening win on Monday in which the Yankees did not record an extra-base hit. They laid down three sacrifice bunts — including a run-scoring safety squeeze — in that 4-2 victory, during which Anthony Rizzo joined Judge and Stanton on the Yankees’ bench.
Rizzo also sat out of Sunday’s win over the Dodgers after beginning June with one hit in his first 29 at-bats. He went 0 for 5 on Tuesday, though he narrowly missed an RBI double that fell foul in the fourth inning.
The first baseman made multiple tough defensive plays, including an over-the-shoulder catch on a Salvador Perez blooper.
Tuesday marked Juan Soto’s return to right field after the superstar missed three games over the weekend with left forearm inflammation and served as the designated hitter on Monday.
Soto went 0 for 2 with two walks and scored two runs Tuesday and is now 1 for 5 with three walks since rejoining the lineup.
The Yankees (48-21) are set to continue their four-game series against the Royals (39-29) on Wednesday night. Cody Poteet (2-0, 1.72 ERA) is scheduled to pitch for the Yankees, while Kansas City has not announced a starter.
