{"id":201571,"date":"2026-04-18T05:00:18","date_gmt":"2026-04-18T05:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/201571\/"},"modified":"2026-04-18T05:00:18","modified_gmt":"2026-04-18T05:00:18","slug":"ryan-mcmahon-hits-go-ahead-homer-to-lift-yankees-past-royals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/201571\/","title":{"rendered":"Ryan McMahon hits go-ahead homer to lift Yankees past Royals"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ryan McMahon started Friday night\u2019s game against Kansas City on the bench thanks to one of the worst starts to the season<\/a> of any hitter in the majors.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He entered as a defensive replacement, with the Yankees clinging to a one-run lead in the top of the eighth.\u00a0<\/p>\n

So, naturally, he came up in the most important at-bat of the game.\u00a0<\/p>\n

And this time, McMahon \u2014 who hadn\u2019t had an extra-base hit all season or driven in a run since Opening Day \u2014 delivered in a 4-2 win in The Bronx.\u00a0<\/p>\n

McMahon\u2019s opposite-field two-out, two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth came after Camilo Doval gave up the lead in the top of the inning and following Ben Rice\u2019s two-out single.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s no secret I\u2019ve been struggling a little bit,\u2019\u2019 said McMahon, who entered with the second-worst slugging percentage in the majors of anyone with more than 40 plate appearances. \u201cThis game is super humbling. All you can do is keep working.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

New York Yankees third baseman Ryan McMahon hits a two run homer during the 8th inning at Yankee Stadium in The Bronx, New York, on April 17, 2026. JASON SZENES FOR THE NEW YORK POST<\/p>\n

Ryan McMahon rounds the bases on his home run. JASON SZENES FOR THE NEW YORK POST<\/p>\n

That\u2019s what McMahon did, hitting in the cages throughout the first half of the game before he replaced Amed Rosario at third to start the eighth and the Yankees up by a run.\u00a0<\/p>\n

His approach didn\u2019t change, even when Aaron Boone told him heading into this series his playing time would be sparse, as the Yankees are set to face lefty starters against both the Royals and the Red Sox in Boston next week.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s had success for a while,\u201d Boone said. \u201cHe knows he\u2019s capable, but when you\u2019re going through it, it can be tough. \u2026 This game will bring you to your knees. The good ones handle it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

New York Yankees third baseman Ryan McMahon (C) high-fives Aaron Judge (R) and Austin Wells at the end of the game. JASON SZENES FOR THE NEW YORK POST<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGo beyond the box score with the Bombers\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSign up for Inside the Yankees by Greg Joyce, exclusively on Sports+.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\tThank you\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

David Bednar closed it in the ninth as the Yankees won for just the third time in their last 10 games.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It came against a Royals team that\u2019s in a five-game losing streak and has dropped nine consecutive games to the Yankees \u2014 dating back to the 2024 ALDS.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Cam Schlittler provided another excellent start, allowing just an unearned run in six-plus innings.\u00a0<\/p>\n

New York Yankees pitcher Cam Schlittler throws to the Kansas City Royals in the first inning. JASON SZENES FOR THE NEW YORK POST<\/p>\n

The right-hander retired the first 11 batters he faced, perfect until Vinnie Pasquantino singled to left with two outs in the fourth.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In the sixth, holding a two-run lead provided by Rice\u2019s homer in the fourth off the excellent Michael Wacha, the Yankees faltered.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Schlittler walked Maikel Garc\u00eda with one out \u2014 just Schlitter\u2019s second walk of the season.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But Schlittler then got Bobby Witt Jr. to hit a fly ball to deep center, where the slumping Trent Grisham camped under it \u2014 and had it bounce off his glove for a two-base error.\u00a0<\/p>\n

With runners on second and third and one out, Pasquantino grounded to first to score Garc\u00eda and make it 2-1 before Schlittler got Salvador P\u00e9rez to finish the inning.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The first two batters reached in the seventh off Schlittler and lefty Brent Headrick entered. He struck out Jac Caglianone, got pinch hitter Jonanthan India to pop out and, after making a throwing error into center on a pickoff attempt, got another pinch hitter, Starling Marte, on a comebacker to preserve the one-run lead.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But Doval took over in the eighth and allowed a game-tying, two-out solo shot to Pasquantino that just reached the stands in right.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ben Rice connects on a homer in the Yankees\u2019 win over the Royals. JASON SZENES FOR THE NEW YORK POST<\/p>\n

The Yankees bounced back, as Rice continued to mash and delivered a two-out single to set up McMahon.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cYou want to play [well],\u201d McMahon said. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t feel good letting your brothers down. I\u2019ve been sick and tired of it, honestly.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Despite the lengthy drought, McMahon said his attitude hasn\u2019t changed: \u201cIt\u2019s always the same. Go win the game.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

On Friday, he \u2014 and the Yankees \u2014 did.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ryan McMahon started Friday night\u2019s game against Kansas City on the bench thanks to one of the worst…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":201572,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[32358,30930,20,9,11,10,321,36062,319],"class_list":{"0":"post-201571","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-cam-schlittler","9":"tag-kansas-city-royals","10":"tag-mlb","11":"tag-new-york","12":"tag-new-york-headlines","13":"tag-new-york-news","14":"tag-new-york-yankees","15":"tag-ryan-mcmahon","16":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201571","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=201571"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201571\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/201572"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=201571"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=201571"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=201571"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}