The New York Yankees needed a performance like this, and they got one in every possible way on Saturday afternoon. A 13-4 demolition of the Kansas City Royals with 11 hits, four homers, seven walks, and only six strikeouts from the entire lineup. Two straight wins, a chance to sweep on Sunday, and a pitching performance from Will Warren that belongs in the “great news” column for the rest of the season.
The Offense Finally Looked Like Itself
The bottom half of the order showed up in a major way, which has been the one thing missing from this lineup for much of the first three weeks. Amed Rosario went deep and drove in three. J.C. Escarra added three RBIs of his own. Cody Bellinger crushed two home runs with five RBIs in what was his best game as a Yankee this season. And Ben Rice extended his home run streak to three straight games, which at this point is becoming less of a streak and more of a Tuesday.
Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images
Seven walks in a single game tells you the entire lineup was locked in and disciplined from first pitch to last out. Six strikeouts is an absurdly low number for any major league lineup in 2026. When the Yankees operate with that kind of plate discipline across all nine spots, they’re genuinely difficult to keep in the ballpark.
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Warren Has Been Everything They Asked For
Will Warren struck out 11 batters across seven innings, allowing only two earned runs, and now owns a 2.49 ERA on the season. Think about what that means for a team that opened the year without Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodon. Warren stepped into a rotation that needed an anchor while the cavalry was rehabbing, and he’s been exactly that. For a pitcher who was supposed to be a back-end option who just needed to eat innings, he’s pitching like a legitimate mid-rotation arm with ace days mixed in.
The Yankees are one win away from a sweep and then head to Boston for a three-game series that matters early in the division race. If Saturday is any indication of where this team is trending, the Red Sox are going to have their hands full.
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