Daily Report – 5/27/26
Yankees
Last night, for the first time in franchise history, every Yankees starter recorded at least two hits as they routed the Kansas City Royals 15-1. It was a beatdown from the very beginning, as the Bombers teed off on opener Bailey Falter and led 9-1 after three innings. They defeated Kansas City for the 13th straight time, including the postseason.
Amed Rosario led the way with four hits and four RBI. He mashed two home runs, his fifth and sixth of the season. Overall, the Yankees went yard six times, including Cody Bellinger, Anthony Volpe, Trent Grisham, and Jazz Chisholm Jr. Bellinger’s dinger was the Yankees’ first, a two-out solo shot in the opening frame.
Last week, the Yankees were struggling offensively, but since Aaron Judge’s walkoff home run on Sunday, they have won three straight games. In their much-needed laugher, which coincided with Judge’s 1,200th career game, the Yankees tallied 24 hits. It was the most hits by any team this season, and the Yankees’ most since July 30, 2011.
The Yankees also mustered 46 total bases, their most since July 22, 2007, and their 24 hard-hit balls were their most since the league began tracking the stat in 2015. In addition to their 13 consecutive wins over Kansas City, they have won 22 of their last 23 series.
“It’s one of those things where we’ve probably run into them at a good time [for us],” said manager Aaron Boone. “We’ve had some good series at different points. Just a ton of really good at-bats and guys that were hitting the ball out of the ballpark, too. [It was] one of those nights where everything’s falling.”
Behind Rosario’s four hits, Grisham, Rice, Volpe, and Wells each had three. Each slugger was due for a massive night at the plate. Rosario hadn’t played in six days nor started in eight, Grisham was batting well below the Mendoza Line and raised his average to .201, Rice broke a 0-for-9 stretch, Volpe was looking to build on his big game on Monday, and Wells was struggling more than anyone.
“As hard as hitting is, and as hard as it is right now, night in and night out, to have a day where everyone can fatten up a little bit is good,” Boone said. Before yesterday, each of the Yankees’ last eight games had been decided by two runs or fewer.
Grisham, the Yankees’ leadoff hitter, entered the game 5-for-5 in his career against Falter. In the first inning, he jumped on the first pitch he saw and lined it to center field. Judge followed with a groundout before Bellinger belted a hanging slider into the right-field bullpen.
The Yankees didn’t stop there, as Paul Goldschmidt doubled and Rice drove him home on an overturned catch-or-drop call in right field. Then, Rosario fired his first two-run blast of the game. The Bombers piled on immediately in the second inning, as Volpe hammered a two-strike fastball to deep left-center field for his first home run of the season.
Leading off the third inning, Volpe drove home another run, this time off Luinder Avila. The Yankees scored three more third-inning runs, courtesy of an RBI groundout by Grisham and a two-run single by Bellinger, extending their lead to 9-0.
In the bottom of the third, Cam Schlittler, whose 1.50 ERA is the best in baseball, gave up his only run of the night. He misplaced a cutter, waving it down the middle of the strike zone to Bobby Witt Jr., who drove it out of Kauffman Stadium. It was Kansas City’s only run of the night, and one of just six hits.
Schlittler wasn’t perfect, but he was efficient. Boone pulled him after six innings, which he completed by allowing four hits and six strikeouts on 77 pitches. His spin rate on his four-seam fastball, his best pitch, was down by 108 RPM, but its velocity remained strong. Nevertheless, Schlittler ramped up his sinker and curveball usage, especially the second time through the order.
“He definitely wants the ball,” Boone said of Schlittler. “He expects to not only pitch well, but dominate. He has that mindset. Some people have that mindset but don’t have the confidence to go with it. He certainly does. I like his competitiveness. He has that ‘I’m going to rip your heart out’ competitor thing to him, but he’s also even-keeled and laid-back. He strikes a good balance.”
Not that it mattered much in the end, but Schlittler did an excellent job of staying composed despite lacking his Grade-A stuff. He flashed a strong arsenal of secondary pitches despite generating just six whiffs. Perhaps the offense behind Schlittler helped him navigate through adversity.
“It’s electric,” Schlittler said of his team’s offensive performance. It felt like even he could have mustered a hit against the Royals. “Long sits there [between innings], but I think that’s the most hits this season in MLB, so really impressive up and down the lineup.”
Tonight, at 7:40 PM, RHP Gerrit Cole (0-0, 0.00 ERA) will make his second start of the season as the Yankees face the lefty Noah Cameron (2-3, 4.72 ERA) (Prime Video).
Schedule
7:40 PM: NYY at KC; Prime Video; SP: RHP Gerrit Cole (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. LHP Noah Cameron (2-3, 4.72 ERA)
Cover Image Courtesy: New York Yankees
