Aaron Judge hit his first home run in 10 games, but Cody Bellinger’s glove was the hero in the New York Yankees’ 4-3 win over the Kansas City Royals on Wednesday night in the Bronx.
With Fernando Cruz on the hill in the top of the ninth inning, looking to convert his first career save, and with a runner on second base, Kansas City’s MJ Melendez hit a sinking line drive to right field, which a diving Bellinger caught for the final out of the game.
“I definitely was anticipating the ball being hit with the matchup,” Bellinger said. “I didn’t know if it was going to be a ground ball or fly ball, but I was just anticipating the ball. Wherever it was, I just wanted to make the best first jump… I had a little awkward second step there and my head was bobbing a little too much, but I had a good beat on it and I saw the way the ball was going, so I was just glad I was able to catch it and get the win.”
Judge’s solo home run in the seventh inning proved to be the game-winner, as he broke a deadlocked affair by jumping on a 1-0 sinker from reliever John Schreiber into the Yankees’ bullpen in right-center field. It was the captain’s first home run since April 4 in Pittsburgh against the Pirates.
New York (11-7) starter Clarke Schmidt went 5.2 innings, allowing three runs on four hits with two strikeouts and two walks in his season debut after being sidelined late in spring training with rotator-cuff tendinitis. He was able to pitch into the sixth inning efficiently, throwing just 73 pitches on the night.
Veteran catcher Salvador Perez put the Royals ahead in the top of the first when he drove in Bobby Witt Jr. with a single, but the Yankees answered in the third thanks to Anthony Volpe’s two-run double. Bellinger made it a 3-1 game in the fourth when he doubled to score Oswald Peraza.
The Royals tied it with two in the fifth. Kyle Isbel tripled to score Drew Waters from first, then came in to score on Jonathan India’s groundout to short.
Judge broke out of his dry spell in the seventh by jumping on a meatball of a sinker from Schreiber, which sat middle-middle. It was just the 16th time in the reigning MVP’s career that he had gone 10 or more games without hitting a home run.
