April 15, 2025

Yankees Power Past Royals with Four Solo Shots in 4–1 Win

Aaron Judge , Austin Wells , Baseball , Ben Rice , Jazz Chisholm , Kansas City Royals , MLB , New York Yankees , Paul Goldschmidt , Trent Grisham

The Yankees opened their series against the Royals with a convincing 4–1 win at home, improving to 2–2 on their current six-game homestand. In a game where every run came via the solo home run, the Yankees leaned on both the long ball and strong pitching to notch their 12th game this season scoring four or more runs.

Pitching: Carrasco and the Pen Lock it Down

Carlos Carrasco earned his second win of the year with a solid five-inning performance. The veteran righty allowed just one run—a solo homer to 2024 AL MVP runner-up Bobby Witt Jr. in the second inning—and settled in from there. He finished his outing with four strikeouts and just two walks over 5.0 innings.

The Yankees’ bullpen was stellar once again, combining for 4.0 scoreless innings and extending their current streak to 11.1 IP without allowing an earned run (since 4/12). Fernando Cruz stood out in particular, delivering 1.1 perfect innings of relief while striking out 3 of the 4 batters he faced. Cruz has now held opponents scoreless in six of his seven outings this season and boasts a 16.43 K/9 (14 strikeouts in 7.2 innings).

3 Ks for Fernando 🤢#RepBX pic.twitter.com/YBcse4vhsQ

— New York Yankees (@Yankees) April 15, 2025

Overall, Yankees pitchers allowed just one run on the night—a season low.

Hitters: Solo Shots Provide All the Thunder

Jazz Chisholm Jr. tied the game in the fourth with his sixth home run of the year, launching a solo shot for the second straight game. His six home runs ties the league’s most home runs with seven other Major League players including teammate Aaron Judge. It marked the 11th time in his career he’s homered in back-to-back games, and the second time already this season.

Jazz ties it up 👏 pic.twitter.com/svrpFtWbf4

— New York Yankees (@Yankees) April 15, 2025

The Yankees exploded in the fifth with three more solo blasts. Trent Grisham and Ben Rice went back-to-back to give New York a 3–1 lead—Grisham’s fourth and Rice’s fifth of the season—followed by Austin Wells’ third homer of the year to cap the scoring.

Homer Happy. #RepBX pic.twitter.com/o6u8TIf8rb

— New York Yankees (@Yankees) April 15, 2025

Ben Rice continued his hot stretch, reaching base twice and showcasing his power again. Eight of his 15 hits this season have gone for extra bases, and he now has three home runs over his last five games. Rice is slashing .300/.417/.680 on the year and is riding a career-best 10-game on-base streak. As the Yankees’ leadoff hitter, he’s batting .308/.471/.769 in seven games.

Austin Wells has quietly reached base in 11 of 14 games this season, and his fifth-inning homer was his third of the year.

Other Offensive Highlights

The Yankees’ 32 home runs are their most through the first 16 games of a season in franchise history.
Their 99 total runs are their most through 16 games since 2007 (102).
They’ve scored at least 4 runs in 12 of 16 games this year, going 9–3 in those contests.

Individual Standouts:

Aaron Judge has reached base in 15 of 16 games, including a current 12-game on-base streak. He’s slashing .367/.479/.733 with 6 HR and 20 RBI. At home, he’s hitting a blistering .417/.523/.944.
Paul Goldschmidt has reached base in 12 of 16 games and is slashing .367/.409/.500 overall. Over his last 10 games, he’s hitting .425 with seven multi-on-base performances.

Series Domination

Including the postseason, the Yankees have now won 20 of their last 26 games vs. the Royals since August 2021. They’re 28–9 against Kansas City dating back to April 2019.

Injury Updates

Clarke Schmidt is set to rejoin the Yankees rotation, and will get the start on Wednesday for Game 3 against the Royals, following two sharp rehab starts with the Somerset Patriots, per Bryan Hoch.
The Yankees’ hope is that Luis Gil will begin his throwing program Wednesday or Thursday, per Gary Phillips.
Giancarlo Stanton is with the team in New York and continues to hit off the high-velocity Trajekt machine, per Bryan Hoch.
DJ LeMahieu will head to Tampa for a few days of live BP. If that goes well, he will start a rehab assignment thereafter, per Meredith Marakovits.
Jonathan Loaisiga tossed a bullpen last week with Double-A Somerset. Loaisiga’s return date of late May/early June return to MLB is realistic, per Bryan Hoch.

About the Author

Jonna Perlinger

Social Media Director, Baseball Content Lead, New York Yankees Lead Writer

Jonna Perlinger is a lifelong Yankees fan with pinstripes in her veins and a storyteller’s heart for the game of baseball. Her love for the sport began at birth, but truly ignited at age six when she was handed a broken bat by Buck Showalter – just before the Yankees’ 90s dynasty took off. Since then, she’s been captivated not only by the game on the field, but by the history, emotion, and stories that live within it.

Jonna brings that passion to her role with On New Jersey Sports, where she covers the Yankees and contributes baseball content with a voice rooted in nostalgia, storytelling, and deep appreciation for the sport’s legacy. After volunteering at MLB All-Star Week in 2021, she turned her lifelong love of baseball into a career in sports media and hasn’t looked back.

She is also the founder of Babe’s Babes Media, a platform dedicated to amplifying women’s voices in baseball, and she proudly carries her Omaha roots into her work, covering the College World Series – the “Greatest Show on Dirt.”

Most recently, Jonna was credentialed for the MLB Winter Meetings, and she continues to cover the sport at every level – including the reigning Big East Champion Creighton Bluejays in 2026.