Judge sets the tone, Wells shines, and Fried deals as the Yankees crush the Royals 10-2

Kansas City—The Yankees began a stretch of 16 games in 16 days with their 40th win of the season (40-25) in a 10-2 blowout win over the Royals. Max Fried got the nod for the Yankees, and Noah Cameron got the start for the Royals.  

Trent Grisham worked a one-out walk in the top of the first inning. The next batter, the captain, Aaron Judge, hit an absolute bomb 469 feet away to straight away left field for his 24th home run of the season to make it 2-0 Yankees.

"Just glad to get the two runs," Judge said. "You know, we haven't faced Cameron at all, we saw a lot of video. You know, just got some great stuff. So just anytime and get a two-run lead like that and you've got max Fried on the mound, we like our chances over here." 

Yankee manager Aaron Boone spoke postgame about Judge's mammoth home run. 

"I don't think so," Boone said, on if he's ever seen a ball hit that far. "I made sure to jump up and get to a good spot where I could really watch it. Like I was under control, poised, I had to make sure I had a good view of it. That was evaporated. " 

In the bottom of the first inning, Fried picked up his first strikeout of the night and retired the Royals in order.

The young 22-year-old rookie phenom, Jac Caglianone, cut the Yankees' lead in half in the bottom of the second inning via a RBI groundout to make it a 2-1 game. 

With two outs in the top of the fourth inning, Dominguez almost had an identical bloop single from his first at-bat. DJ LeMahieu followed that up with a single of his own. The next batter, Austin Wells, launched a three-run home run, his 11th of the year, to give the Yankees a 5-1 lead.

Fried surrendered a two-out single in the bottom of the fifth inning to break up a streak of 11 straight Royals hitters retired. However, Fried picked up his second strikeout of the night to end the inning. 

With one out in the top of the sixth inning Jazz Chisholm Jr. ropped a double off the wall in right field to quiet the boos he’s been hearing all night long due to his comments durning the ALDS last year. Jazz then stole third base, his 10th stolen base of the season. DJ then worked a walk, and the next batter, Wells, cranked a two-run double into the right field corner to make it a five-RBI night for Wells, tying a career high.

"They made some good pitches throughout the game," Wells said on his five-RBI night. "But I got a good pitch to hit in both those at-bats and had some guys on base for that to happen, so that was good." 

The next batter, Paul Goldschmidt, legged out an infield single, and Grisham followed that up with an RBI single to make it an 8-1 game. Judge then extended the Yankees' lead to 9-1 thanks to an RBI bloop single. Belli then dunked in a RBI bloop single to make it a 10-1 game, the 1,000th hit of Belli's career. 

In the bottom of the sixth inning, Jonathan India cut into the Yankees' lead via a solo home run to make it a 10-2 game. 

Dominguez lined a one-out single up the middle in the top of the seventh inning for his third hit of the night from the right side of the plate. DJ followed that up with his second walk of the night. 

Fried worked a 1-2-3 bottom of the seventh inning and picked up his fourth strikeout of the ballgame to end his night. 

Grisham led off the top of the eighth inning with his second hit of the night and the Yankees' 14th hit of the game. A few batters later, Volpe legged out an infield single for his second knock of the ballgame. 

Yerrey De Los Santos replaced Fried on the mound in the bottom of the eighth inning. DJ made a beautiful play for the first out and helped De Los Santos work a scoreless frame. 

Max Fried's final line: seven innings pitched, six hits allowed, two earned runs, 12 swings and misses, and four strikeouts on 91 pitches. Fried relied heavily on his fastball, throwing it 47% of the time, the sinker 14%, the changeup 13%, the curveball 13%, the sweeper 11%, and the cutter 1% of the time. Fried was great yet again tonight; there's not much more to say about this guy, as he's been insanely consistent this season. 

“You know, when you put up 10 runs, it makes my job easier," Fried said. "Just going out there, trying to get as many outs as I can. You know, you're just a little bit more on the attack. You don't want to give him free passes. And, you try to avoid the big inning.”

In the top of the ninth, DJ ripped a one-out double in the left center gap for his second hit of the night and fourth time he reached base. 

De Los Santos remained in the game for the bottom of the ninth inning, picked up the first two outs, and loaded the bases. Tim Hill took over for De Los Santos and picked up the final out of the ballgame to end this one 10-2. 

The Yankees will look to win the series tomorrow with Clarke Schmidt on the mound facing off against Kris Bubic for the Royals, who has been one of the best pitchers in baseball this year with a 1.43 ERA. The first pitch is scheduled for 7:40 p.m. ET on Prime Video. 

My thoughts on the game: Judge started this game with a bang, a 469-foot home run that nearly left the stadium, and the Yankees' offense never looked back after that. Great nights from DJ, Grisham, and Volpe as they all had two hits. Dominguez had a three-hit night, all three of those hits coming from the right side of the plate. Wells was awesome tonight with five RBIs, as he is starting to heat up at the plate after a slow start, now up to a .770 OPS. Jazz left the game late with neck tightness after a weird slide into third base, so hopefully he’s ok. Fried was also awesome yet again, maintaining total control all night, working quickly, and producing weak contact all night long. Great win on to tomorrow with a chance to win the series. 

"I'm feeling better," Jazz said. "It was my Neck and finger. You know, my finger's kind of cut up, but I'll be all right."