Jason Dominguez helps lead the Yankees to a 4-2 win over the Royals

New York—The Yankees took down the Royals 4-2 in the Bronx to win the series, led by a nice 4-run two-out rally in the sixth inning. Max Fried took the mound for the Yankees, and Micheal Wacha got the start for the Royals. 

In the top of the first inning, the Yankees starter Max Fried worked a 1-2-3 inning against the Royals. 

In the bottom of the first inning, the captain Aaron Judge hit a rocket single 108 mph off the right field wall, and then the Yankees first basemen, Paul Goldschmidt reached on a catcher interference. Those runners ended up getting stranded as second basemen Jazz Chisholm Jr. flew out to right field to end the inning. 

Max Fried picked up his first two strikeouts of the ball game in the top of the second inning, and he set the Royals down in order. 

In the bottom half of the second inning, rookie left fielder Jason Dominguez picked up a two-out single, but that would be all for the Yankees in the inning. 

The Royals got the scoring started at the top of the third inning with a solo home run from MJ Melendez, which made it a 1-0 game. Then, a couple of batters later, Bobby Witt Jr. hit an RBI double in the right-center gap to make it a 2-0 Royals lead. 

The top of the Yankees lineup, Ben Rice, Aaron Judge, and Cody Bellinger, went down in order in the bottom of the third inning. 

Max Fried worked around a leadoff double from all-star catcher Salvador Perez in the top of the fourth inning. 

Paul Goldschmidt, Jazz Chisholm Jr., and Anthony Volpe went down in order for the Yankees in the bottom of the fourth inning. 

In the top of the fourth inning, Max Fried worked around a leadoff infield single and picked up his fifth strikeout of the game in the process. 

Jason Dominguez led off the bottom of the fifth inning for the Yankees with his second single of the night but was stranded as Ben Rice lined out to first base to end the inning. 

In the top of the sixth inning, Max Fried picked up his sixth strikeout of the game and set the Royals down in order. 

Aaron Judge picked up his second single of the night to lead off the bottom of the sixth inning. Then, a couple of batters later, Jazz worked a two-out walk, followed by a walk from Volpe. The Austin Wells worked a bases-loaded walk to make it a 2-1 game, then the rookie phenom Jason Dominguez picked his third hit of the night, a bases-clearing double, to make it a 4-2 Yankees lead. 

“I was just trying to look for a good pitch to hit.” Dominguez said, “I fell behind in the count a little, but I was just looking for something over the plate and got it.”

Fried came back out for the top of the seventh, picked up the first two outs of the inning, and walked two hitters. Then Luke Weaver came in to replace Fried and picked up the final out to end the threat. 

“He has the ability to beat you in so many ways.” Yankees Manager Aaron Boone said on Fried, “The fastball is cutting, he can add to it, he can rip it 95-97 mph at times, his sinker is really good, I thought overall he was great tonight.”

Max Fried’s final line: 6.2 innings pitched, five hits allowed, two earned runs, two walks, and seven strikeouts on 94 pitches. Max was very reliant on his fastball tonight as he threw it 44% of the time and touched 97 mph several times. He also mixed in the sinker 18% of the time, curveball 17%, sweeper 14%, changeup 5%, and cutter 2% of the time. Another great start by Fried as his ERA is now 1.88 on the season. 

“I thought it was a really great team effort tonight.” Fried said, “The defense was incredible tonight. Good at-bats also from the lineup, and our bullpen shut the door. I thought it was a really good win.”

In the bottom of the seventh, Judge and Bellinger both worked walks, but Jazz struck out, looking to strand both runners on base. 

Weaver came back out to pitch the top of the eighth, worked a 1-2-3 inning, and picked up a strikeout as well. 

Volpe led off the bottom of the eighth inning with a single up the middle; then he stole second base. Trent Grisham followed that up by working a walk, and then Oswald Peraza and Ben Rice went down on strikes to end the inning. 

The Yankees closer Devin Williams came in to replace Weaver on the mound in the top of the ninth inning, worked a 1-2-3 inning, and picked up a strikeout to end this one 4-2 final. Williams picked up his third save of the season, as a four-run two-out rally in the sixth helped lead the Yankees to a series win over the Royals. 

The Yankees will attempt a series sweep over the Royals tomorrow in the Bronx. Clarke Schmidt will return from the IL and make his first start of the season for the Yankees, and Kris Bubic will get the ball for the Royals. The first pitch will be at 7:05 p.m. ET on Prime Vidoe. 

My thoughts on the game: Max Fried was great, yet again tossing 6.2 innings of two-run ball. I can't wait to see Fried and Geritt Cole in the same rotation next season. Luke Weaver was great out of the bullpen, picking up four big outs and continuing to be the Yankees' best reliever. Devin Williams had the best outing of his Yankees career and had that change-up working. Jason Dominguez arguably had the best game of his young career, going 3 for 3 with a huge bases-clearing double. It looks like he is heating up at the plate. Not much offense in this game as the Yankees only had six hits, but clutch two-out hitting in the sixth, and another great start from Fried led to a 4-2 Yankees win. Getting Clarke Schmidt back in the rotation tomorrow will be huge; he was great last year when he was healthy. 

“He has really great stuff, and I feel like he has a pitch mix similar to mine.” Fried said on Schmidt. “He’s able to move the ball around, has a lot of different speeds, and has different ways for the balls to move to keep hitters off-balance. I know he is really excited to get back out there and help us out. We will definitely take a talent like Clarke coming back.”