NEW YORK — from the bench to a decisive swing, Ryan McMahon snapped his season-long slump Friday night at 10: 12 p. m. ET, delivering a tiebreaking two-run homer in the eighth inning as the New York Yankees beat the Kansas City Royals 4-2. The Yankees used the shot to take control late at home, where the game stayed tight until the eighth.
McMahon’s swing changes everything
McMahon entered on defense at third base in the top of the eighth after spending the start of the game on the bench. Later in the inning, with the score tied 2-2 and Ben Rice already on base after a two-out single, McMahon drove a 2-1 changeup 372 feet to left field for his first extra-base hit of the season.
The homer was especially meaningful because McMahon began the night batting. 119, with five hits in 42 at-bats and two RBIs. Yankees manager Aaron Boone had left him out of the starting lineup in favor of Amed Rosario, even against a right-handed starter. The result gave New York a lead it did not surrender.
Rice had already done damage earlier. He hit a two-run homer in the fourth inning, a 364-foot drive into the right-field stands after Cody Bellinger singled to open the frame. Rice’s homer came on a pitch type that had stumped hitters all season; batters were 0 for 19 against Michael Wacha’s changeup before that swing.
From a close game to a familiar result
The Yankees also got a strong start from Cam Schlittler and continued a run of success against Kansas City. New York has now won nine straight against the Royals, including a playoff series two years ago, and is 15-3 against them since the start of 2024.
For Kansas City, the night was another frustrating finish. Vinnie Pasquantino tied the game with a solo homer in the top of the eighth, his second home run in the past two days, but the Royals could not hold the momentum. They have now lost five in a row and eight of 10, with the first four losses in the skid coming by one run.
Michael Wacha worked six solid innings for Kansas City in a matchup featuring two of baseball’s most dominant pitchers early this year, but the late innings shifted the outcome. Camilo Doval earned the win, and David Bednar struck out two in a hitless ninth for his sixth save.
What McMahon’s moment means now
The timing mattered as much as the power. McMahon’s homer was the first extra-base hit of his season, and it came after a night that began with him outside the starting nine and ended with him driving the decisive ball to left.
Boone will have decisions to make going forward, but for one night, the story was simpler: the Yankees needed a spark, and McMahon provided it from the bench in New York. The teams meet again Saturday afternoon, with the Royals set to send Noah Cameron against Will Warren in the middle game of the series.
