The last time the Royals beat the Yankees was on October 7, 2024 – Game 2 of the American League Divisional Series. The Royals dropped the last two games of that series, and have not won a regular season game against the Bronx Bombers since in nine tries. They were swept in New York against them earlier this year, getting outscored 24-6.
New York Yankees (31-22) vs. Kansas City Royals (22-31) at Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City, MO
Yankees: 4.79 runs scored/game (6th in MLB), 3.53 runs allowed/game (3rd)
Royals: 3.91 runs scored/game (25th), 4.38 runs allowed/game (14th)
The Yankees have hit the most home runs and have the highest walk rate in baseball, but they are a much more pedestrian team hitting on the road. Away from Yankee Stadium they are hitting .223/.306/.378 as a team, hitting just 31 of their 75 home runs on the road. Aaron Judge and Ben Rice are both among the top five home run hitters in baseball. Judge has hit .318 with 17 home runs in 46 games against the Royals in his career, but just .250/.298/.511 with seven home runs in 22 games at Kauffman Stadium.
Jazz Chisholm Jr. is red-hot, hitting .432/.488/.649 over his last ten games. Ryan McMahon is just 5-for-his-last-43 (.116). Austin Wells is hitting .114 against lefties this year. The Yankees have become a threat on the bases with the sixth-most steals.
Monday’s game will air exclusively as the national telecast on ESPN with Jon Sciambi, Eduardo Pérez and David Ross on the call. Will Warren has not completed six innings in any of his last three starts. Lefties are hitting .255/.303/.422 against him this year. Michael Wacha has a 3.12 ERA in 13 games in his career against the Yankees.
Cam Schlittler has been the best pitcher in the American League so far, according to Fangraphs WAR. He is fourth in baseball in strikeout-to-walk ratio at 5.77. He throws his 97.8 mph fastball half the time, mixing in a cutter, sinker, curve, and slider. The Royals have not yet announced a starter for Tuesday, but Bailey Falter and Luinder Avila will likely share innings as they did last Tuesday against the Red Sox.
Gerrit Cole tossed six shutout innings in his season debut against the Rays last week, his first MLB game since September of 2024. Cole won the Cy Young in 2023, and had a 3.41 ERA in 17 starts in 2024, but missed all of last season after Tommy John surgery. Royals hitters are batting just .199/.246/.335 against him in eight career starts. Salvador Perez is just 1-for-15 (.067) against him. The Wednesday game will air on Amazon for subscribers in New York, Connecticut, north and central New Jersey and northeast Pennsylvania.
The Yankees have a 3.51 bullpen ERA, 11th-best in baseball. Closer David Bednar has converted 11 of 13 save opportunities, but has given up seven runs in his last eight outings. Former Royals lefty Tim Hill has a 75.8 percent groundball rate, highest in baseball. He also has an 11.8 percent strikeout rate, third-lowest. Fernando Cruz has struck out or walked 47 percent of the hitters he has faced this year.
The Yankees are not an ideal opponent for a team looking to pick themselves off the map. They are a talented team, no doubt, but the Royals seem to be intimidated by facing such a marquee team, especially when a national television audience is watching. They’ll need to be fearless to finally beat these guys and win their first series against the Yankees since 2023.
