Ryan McMahon's two-run homer lifts Yankees over Royals

Fiifi Frimpong, New York Daily News on Apr 17, 2026

Published in Baseball

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NEW YORK — Ryan McMahon’s struggles have been well documented during the early parts of his 2026 season.

The third baseman entered the night hitting .119 with just five singles to account for.

He had yet to have an extra-base hit until Friday night — a go-ahead, two-run home run that helped the Yankees secure a 4-2 win against the Kansas City Royals.

McMahon started the night on the bench and came in for Amed Rosario as a defensive substitution in the top of the eighth. The move turned out to be instant offense in the bottom of the frame for McMahon, who took Royals reliever Alex Lange deep on a change-up near the center of the zone.

Yankees manager Aaron Boone’s move proved costly for his team, which avoided a two-game skid with the series-opening win against the Royals.

The scoring began in the bottom of the fourth inning with Ben Rice’s two-run home run off of Royals starter Michael Wacha. It was the sixth homer and 16th RBI of the season for Rice, who entered the series opener slashing .327/.331./.482.

The 2-0 score gave Yankees starter Cam Schlittler some cushion, but Maikel Garcia got a run of his own on Vinnie Pasquantino’s groundout in the sixth inning.

That score was the lone run on Schlittler’s statline as the starter has yet to allow more than three runs in an outing this season. The one run was unearned. He struck out six batters while allowing three hits and two walks in six innings of work.

He narrowly outdueled Wacha, who allowed three hits, two runs and three walks while striking six in six innings.

The score remained 2-1 until the top of the eighth when Pasquantino pulled a solo homer to right field against Camilo Doval. The tying score made it back-to-back outings an opponent has hit a home run off Doval, who got taken deep by Mike Trout on Monday.

But in came McMahon to record the highlight of his season in the bottom of the eighth inning.

Following that homer, David Bednar came in for his sixth save of the season.