Even after last year’s trade with the Rockies, we all should’ve known to some degree that Ryan McMahon wasn’t exactly going to an Alex Rodriguez type of third baseman at the plate. That being said, his struggles to start 2026 have gone way below what anyone could’ve reasonably hoped for. He’s even lost a lot of at-bats to Amed Rosario, who was signed specifically just to play against lefties.
However on Friday night, McMahon played the hero at the dish, as his go-ahead homer gave the Yankees a 4-2
win over the Royals, and avoided them wasting another good start from Cam Schlittler.
The Yankees’ offense was mostly held in check through the first couple innings, but eventually they broke through in the fourth. With Cody Bellinger on after a single of his dropped in for a hit, Ben Rice took Michael Wacha deep for his sixth homer of the season.
The Royals got one of those runs back in the sixth, although you could hardly blame it on Schlittler. With one out, he walked Maikel Garcia but then got Bobby Witt Jr. to hit a deep fly ball that should have been the second out. However in the windy conditions, Trent Grisham took an awkward route to the ball and then couldn’t fully glove it, as the ball went in and out, allowing Witt to reach safely and Garcia to go to third. That allowed Garcia to score when Vinnie Pasquatino grounded out in the following at-bat. Schlittler did a good job after that, striking out Salvador Perez to strand Witt.
However, Schlittler then allowed the first two Royals’ batters in the seventh to reach base, leading to Aaron Boone going to the bullpen. Brent Headrick came in and eventually got out of the inning, but not before a scare of his own making, as he committed an error while making a pickoff throw to second base.
For the game, Schlittler ended up going six innings, allowing one run on three hits. He did triple his walk total on the season, but that number just went from one to three.
The Yankees missed out on a chance to add back to their lead in the bottom of the seventh, but Aaron Judge, of all people, grounded out to end the inning. Camilo Doval then came in for the eighth. He got two quick outs and seemed to be headed towards a clean inning, but Pasquatino got him for a porch job homer to tie things up.
In the bottom of the eighth, it appeared that the lineup was going to go down quickly in order, as they mostly had in the inning since Rice’s homer. The inning was left up to Rice again, who came through with a single to keep it alive. That brought McMahon to the plate, as he had come in as a defensive replacement for Amed Rosario prior to the top of the eighth. Despite all that’s been said about his slow start to the season, we can give him a break on this day. McMahon homered to left, just getting one to clear the top of the wall for a two-run, go-ahead blast.
With the lead back, the Yankees brought David Bednar in for the top of the ninth. He issued a leadoff walk, but came back to get the next three outs, striking out the final two batters to seal the victory.
The series against the Royals will continue tomorrow afternoon at 1:35 pm ET. Will Warren is expected to take the ball for the Yankees, with Noah Cameron going for Kansas City.
