Aaron Judge's clutch homer leads Yankees to sweep of Royals after Clarke Schmidt's debut

Peter Sblendorio, New York Daily News on Apr 16, 2025

Published in Baseball

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NEW YORK — For the first time this season, Clarke Schmidt started for the Yankees.

But it was Aaron Judge who played the role of finisher in Wednesday night’s 4-3 win over the Kansas City Royals in the Bronx.

Judge’s go-ahead home run in the seventh inning proved to be the game-winner as the Yankees (11-7) finished off a three-game sweep.

With the score tied, 3-3, Judge lined a 1-0 sinker from reliever John Schreiber into the Yankees’ bullpen. The 383-foot blast was Judge’s seventh home run of the season and snapped a 10-game homer-less streak for the reigning American League MVP.

It was part of a 3-for-3 performance by Judge, who is now hitting .409 and leads MLB hitters with a 1.322 OPS.

Judge’s late-game heroics capped an all-around encouraging evening for the Yankees, who got 5 2/3 solid innings from Schmidt in his season debut.

Making his return from right rotator cuff tendinitis, Schmidt limited the Royals to three runs on four hits on 73 pitches and collected a no-decision. He issued two walks and recorded two strikeouts.

It was a welcome sight for the Yankees, whose rotation has been ravaged by injuries. Schmidt, who pitched to a 2.85 ERA last season, looms even larger this year after Gerrit Cole’s season-ending elbow surgery, as well as a lat strain that is expected to keep Luis Gil out until at least June.

“We’re counting on Clarke,” manager Aaron Boone said on the eve of Schmidt’s debut. “We expect a lot from Clarke now.”

It took Schmidt an inning to get into a groove.

Three of the game’s first four batters reached base, including Salvador Perez, whose RBI single on a hanging sweeper gave the Royals a 1-0 lead.

But Schmidt locked in from there. He retired the next 11 batters, including three on soft comebackers that he fielded himself.

After throwing 21 pitches in the first inning, Schmidt needed only 24 to get through the next three frames.

That gave the Yankees’ offense an opportunity to break through against red-hot Royals left-hander Kris Bubic, who entered Wednesday with a 0.96 ERA through three starts.

They did so in the third inning, when Judge struck a two-out double to begin a rally. Jazz Chisholm Jr. followed with a walk, and Anthony Volpe drove them in with a two-run double to put the Yankees up, 2-1.

Volpe now ranks fifth in the AL with 15 RBIs — six behind Judge’s league-leading 21.

The Yankees tacked on a run with another two-out rally in the bottom of the fourth, when back-to-back singles by Oswald Peraza and Paul Goldschmidt preceded Cody Bellinger’s RBI double.

That 3-1 lead didn’t last long, however, as Kyle Isbel lined an RBI triple in the top of the fifth, then scored on a Jonathan India groundout to tie the game, 3-3. That remained the score when Schmidt exited to a nice ovation with a runner on and two outs in the top of the sixth.

Mark Leiter Jr. pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings in relief, while Fernando Cruz finished off the game with two shutout frames.

Bellinger’s game-ending diving catch in right field robbed MJ Melendez of a would-be game-tying double.

With the win, the Yankees finished their second homestand of the season at 4-2.

Next up is a four-game series at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, Fla., where they will be the road team against the Tampa Bay Rays. The Rays are calling the Yankees’ spring training stadium home this season after Hurricane Milton left Tropicana Field with significant damage.

That series begins Thursday night, with rookie Will Warren (1-0, 5.14 ERA) set to match up against Tampa’s Taj Bradley (2-0, 3.71 ERA).