About Last Night: Yankees 15, Royals 1

by Derek McAdam

May 27, 2026

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The New York Yankees defeated the Kansas City Royals in a 15-1 blowout victory Tuesday night, improving to 33-22 on the season. Here’s a recap of last night’s game.

Quick Stats: W: Cam Schlittler (7-2): 6 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 6 K

                     L: Bailey Falter (0-2): 2.1 IP, 9 H, 7 ER

                     S: Ryan Yarbrough (1): 3 IP, 2 H, 1 BB

HRs: NYY: Cody Bellinger (8), Amed Rosario (5, 6), Anthony Volpe (1), Trent Grisham (7), Jazz Chisholm Jr. (6)

KC: Bobby Witt Jr. (9)

The Yankees had a season-high 24 hits last night, while all nine starters had a multi-hit game and five had three hits. It was the first time since July 2011 that the Yankees have had 24 hits in a single game.

The Big Story: The Yankees were coming off a Memorial Day victory against the Royals, in which Anthony Volpe delivered a go-ahead two-run single in the 9th to ultimately give the Yankees a 4-3 win. And the Yankees were sending Cam Schlittler to the mound in hopes of taking the series victory.

After the first two pitches of the game resulted in two outs, Cody Bellinger crushed a solo home run into the right field bullpen, giving the Yankees a 1-0 lead in what was a nearly identical shot compared to Monday’s 1st inning home run. Paul Goldschmidt reached on a double before Ben Rice hit an RBI single into right field, one that was initially thought to be the third out of the inning. With a 2-0 lead, Rosario blasted a two-run home run into the left field seats to give the Yankees a quick and commanding 4-0 lead.

In the 2nd, Volpe hit a solo home run off Falter to give the Yankees a 5-0 lead. It was the shortstop’s first home run of the season.

The Yankees were able to force Falter out of the game after 2.1 innings of work, and still left the game with trouble on the bases. Volpe then came up and smacked an RBI single into left field to make the new score 6-0. With the bases loaded and one out, Grisham hit into a groundout to get another run across the plate for the Yankees for a 7-0 lead. Bellinger then hit a two-run single to give the Yankees a whopping 9-0 lead.

In the bottom of the 3rd, Witt Jr. hit his second home run of the series to put the Royals on the board, still training the Yankees by a 9-1 score.

In the 5th, with runners on first and second and two outs, Aaron Judge hit an RBI double off the left field wall to give the Yankees a 10-1 lead.

The Yankees tacked on in the 7th, when Grisham hit his 7th home run of the series into the right-center field seats to give the Yankees an 11-1 lead.

Schlittler’s night was complete after six innings of work, to which he threw only 77 pitches. Ryan Yarbrough came in to get some work after having at least a full week off since his last appearance.

In the 8th, Chisholm Jr. was the final Yankee starter that had not recorded a hit, and did so with a solo home run into the right-center field seats to make it a 12-1 Yankee lead. Following a double from Volpe, Austin Wells hit an RBI single into right field to extend the Yankee lead to 13-1.

Rosario tacked on a two-run home run in the 9th off a position player, making the Yankees’ lead 15-1. Yarbrough was able to get the three-inning save and secure the Yankees’ 33rd victory of the season.

Player of the Game: I could give this to a number of players, but Amed Rosario will get the nod from me. He had two home runs and four hits and played a nice third base last night.

Notable Performances: Every single Yankee player that performed in last night’s game deserves this. Everyone contributed in some way, shape, or form, so they are all deserving of this recognition.

Better to Forget: The entire Royals’ team would love to forget this performance. It seemed over from the 1st inning, and it was, especially considering who was on the mound for the Yankees.

My Take: The Yankees were in need of a big offensive game, and did just that last night. Every starter reached base and the majority of the starters had multiple hits. And while the Yankees were able to push several runs across other than via home runs, which is something I always love to see. It seems like forever since the Yankees had a high-scoring offensive game, so it was nice to see them break out.

Falter has had his command issues throughout his limited appearances this season, and it did not take too long to see that it wasn't going to stop last night. Bellinger’s solo home run in the 1st was nearly identical to his solo home run, also in the 1st, on Monday. It was with two outs in the inning and went right into the Royals’ bullpen. Bellinger’s biggest knock is that he doesn’t hit well on the road compared to Yankee Stadium, but he may be turning that narrative around.

There are two infielders that definitely needed to have a good game at the plate. Rosario has had limited playing time, but may have given Aaron Boone more reasons to put him in the lineup more often with his performance last night. Rosario is not the greatest fielder (although he did have a nice play in the 9th), but he continues to perform in the limited games he appears in. The other player was Anthony Volpe. Overall, Volpe’s plate appearances have been positive since his return from injury. He’s been working the counts full and lately has come up with some big hits for the Yankees. It may be that Jose Caballero is providing competition, but if it helps everyone perform better, I welcome it.

And Cam Schlittler just continues to impress on the mound. The lone run he have up was not an issue for me, since he continued to throw strikes after being up 9-0 at one point. And while he only threw 77 pitches, there were two key factors as to why this was the case. First, and foremost, Yarbrough needed to get some work in. He was more than fully rested and could save the bullpen, which has been worked very often so far this season. But Schlittler also got a little more rest, which may come in handy as the season goes on.

What was very important for the Yankees, even though we have yet to hit June, is that the Tampa Bay Rays lost again last night, pushing the Yanks just a little bit closer to the AL East lead. There will be plenty more opportunities to take the lead, but every win for the Yankees matters, just as every loss for the Rays does.

The Yankees got production from everyone in the lineup. Hopefully, this builds confidence for the future and allows some of the “smaller” Yankee players not named Judge or Bellinger or Rice break out. They need a lot of offensive production from other players, so hopefully they can start with last night’s game. Overall, it was a great victory for the Yankees and one that they should build on going forward.

What’s Next?: The Yankees will go for the sweep tonight before enjoying an off-day tomorrow. Gerrit Cole will take the mound for the Yankees, while Noah Cameron is scheduled to start for the Royals. First pitch is scheduled for 7:40 p.m. EST from Kauffman Stadium.