Clarke Schmidt’s Awesome Return Helps New York Yankees Sweep Kansas City Royals 4-3

Clarke Schmidt came off the injured list tonight to start for the Yankees. He was pretty good but had a difficult pitching matchup. The Yankees won 4-3 and swept the Royals. He needed to come back to the Yankees because their starting pitching, outside of Max Fried and a few random starts, has been terrible.

Royals Starting Pitcher Kris Bubic had a minuscule 0.96 earned run average coming into the game, so the Yankees needed a big performance from Schmidt. This was an important win for the Yankees, who finished the homestand 4-2. Now they go to Tampa to play in their spring training home. Do you think it will be strange to play where you train?

Lineups: Yankees Win Game 3 in the Bronx

The Royals had Jonathan India batting first and playing shortstop. Bobby Witt Jr. played shortstop and batted second for the third game in a row. Vinnie Pasquantino batted third and was the first baseman. Salvador Perez was the catcher and batted fourth. Maikel Garcia was the designated hitter and batted fifth. MJ Melendez was the left fielder and batted sixth. Drew Waters was the right fielder and batted seventh. Tyler Tolbert was the second baseman and batted eighth. Mike Massey pinch-hit for him in the seventh inning. Kyle Isbel was the center fielder and batted ninth.

For the Yankees, Paul Goldschmidt led off and was the first baseman. Cody Bellinger was the right fielder batting second. Aaron Judge batted third and was the designated hitter. Jazz Chisholm Jr. batted fourth and was the second baseman. Anthony Volpe batted fifth and played shortstop. Austin Wells was the catcher, batting sixth. Trent Grisham played center field and batted seventh. He is off to a good start. Jasson Dominguez batted eighth and was the left fielder. Oswald Peraza was the third baseman and batted ninth. 

Scoring Summary: Clarke Schmidt Pitches Well in Return

In the first inning, Perez singles, and  Pasquantino scored. In the bottom of the second inning, the Yankees took a 2-1 lead when Volpe doubled and both Judge and Jazz Chisolm scored. The Yankees led 2-1. The Yankees extended their lead to 3-1 in the 4th inning when Bellinger doubled and Oswald Peraza scored.

The Royals tied the game at 3 in the bottom of the fourth inning when Isbel tripled and Waters scored. Also in that inning, Isbel scored on a groundout from India. Judge hit a solo home run in the bottom of the seventh inning, giving the Yankees a 4-3 lead.

Game Notes

Schmidt returned to the Yankee starting rotation from the injured list. Before the game, Judge spoke about Juan Soto’s griping about his unhappiness with hitting in the batting order of the New York Mets. He was diplomatic, but, oddly, Soto is griping already.

Domínguez had three hits on Tuesday evening (and played great defense), including a go-ahead, three-run double, helping lead the Yankees to a 4-2 victory over the Royals at Yankee Stadium. “Everybody wants to have a three-RBI game and three hits,” Domínguez said. “It feels nice. Yesterday I had a big game in my defense; I felt that confidence, for sure.” However, on his double, he lost a contact lens, probably on a violent swing.

Melendez on the Royals has the highest strikeout rate in Major League Baseball. Schmidt exited the game after the fifth inning when the score was tied. He could not win or lose in his first start off the injured list. This was a good outing for him because he got partially through the Royals lineup for a third time.

Coming into the game, their 17th of the season, the Yankees had 32 home runs, the most in franchise history. The game time temperature was 48 degrees Fahrenheit. It was cold.

Conclusion

It was important for the Yankees to get Schmidt back from the injured list, no matter how he pitched. The horrific injuries have taken a toll. Nevertheless, with Schmidt coming back, he can replace the now-injured Marcus Stroman. The Yankees now head to Tampa, where they will play the Rays in George M. Steinbrenner Field, their spring training home. The Rays’ real home was destroyed by Hurricane Milton. In this series, the Yankees will face very good pitching.