Jasson Dominguez's three-run double powers Yankees past Royals, 4-2

Jasson Dominguez notched a go-ahead three-run double in the sixth inning in a 3-for-3 performance and Max Fried delivered a quality start as the Yankees took down the Kansas City Royals, 4-2, on Tuesday night in The Bronx.

New York improved to 10-7 on the year. Kansas City fell to 8-9.

Here are the takeaways…

– Fried needed just 11 pitches in the first and 16 in the second for a perfect start, tallying two strikeouts on the four-seam fastball in the process. 

The second pitch of the third innings was a bad one for the lefty as MJ Melendez clobbered a 94 mph four-seamer to the Yankee bullpen in center (107.2 mph, 429 feet). With two down, a slow dribbler to third wasn’t barehanded by Oswald Peraza, and that infield hit came around to score when Bobby Witt Jr. smacked a first-pitch fastball off the wall in right-center for a double.

Fried’s first-pitch curveball to start the fourth went right into the leftfield gap for a double off Salvador Pèrez’s bat, but three balls on the infield stranded the runner. The first-year Yank allowed the leadoff man to reach for the third-straight inning with an infield single to first in the fifth. But Fried escaped without further damage, adding his fifth strikeout of the night in the process.

A leadoff walk and a two-out walk in the seventh ended Fried’s night. Luke Weaver needed just two pitches to end the threat. Fried’s final line: 6.2 innings, five hits, two runs, two walks, seven strikeouts on 94 pitches (60 strikes).

– Two runners reached against Michael Wacha in the first, but he cruised to five scoreless innings, needing just 58 pitches. The wheels came off in the sixth. After a leadoff infield single, Wacha got the next two batters before back-to-back walks saw the Royals summon Angel Zerpa, but the lefty promptly walked Austin Wells on four pitches to score a run.

That brought Dominguez to the plate, and the young left fielder got a 96 mph fastball on the inside corner and didn’t miss it, yanking the 1-2 pitch over the third baseman for a bases-clearing double to give the Yanks a 4-2 lead.

It was Dominguez’s third hit in three at-bats after he stayed on a breaking ball for a first-pitch single through the right side in the second and laced a single (106.4 mph) to the right of second base in the fifth.

He exited the game for the top of the seventh – manager Aaron Boone said after the game Dominguez “lost his contacts” when he was running the bases – and Trent Grisham came in to play defense. And it didn’t take long for Grisham’s defense to pay dividends as he tracked down a hard-hit ball for the first out in the inning, robbing Melendez of extra bases.

– Weaver needed just nine pitches for a 1-2-3 eighth inning with a strikeout. Devin Williams needed just 16 for a perfect ninth (with a strikeout) to earn his third save of the year.

– Aaron Judge, 1-for-21 with no extra-base hits against Wacha, rocketed a single (108.6 mph off the bat) that one-hopped the wall in right-center. Judge notched a second hit off Wacha, an infield single to start the sixth when Perez at first mishandled a throw from shallow center. He finished the day 2-for-3 with a walk.

– Cody Bellinger went 0-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout swinging. The outfielder is now 5-for-40 (.125) with one extra-base hit and two RBI in the month of April

– Paul Goldschmidt reached on catcher’s interference in the first but finished the day 0-for-3 with a strikeout.

– Jazz Chisholm Jr., wearing high socks and baggy pants in honor of Jackie Robinson, had a big chance in the first with two on and two out, but popped out in foul ground down the line in right. Went 0-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout looking. He is now stuck in a 2-for-28 stretch.

– Wells made a bid for extra bases his first time up, but Hunter Renfroe tracked down the 369-foot flyout to the warning track in right-center. Finished 0-for-2 with a strikeout and RBI walk.

– Ben Rice, who has been swinging a mighty bat, hit just one ball hard as he finished 0-for-5 with a strikeout.

– Anthony Volpe had just one hit in his last 22 at-bats before cracking a leadoff single (100 mph) in the eighth. He finished 1-for-3 with a strikeout and a walk.

– Members of both teams – and across all of baseball – wore No. 42 for Jackie Robinson Day in honor of his April 15, 1947 debut for the Brooklyn Dodgers, which ended segregation in the modern era of MLB. After Robinson’s debut, it would be another eight years – 1,233 regular season games – before the Yanks became the 13th team out of 16 to integrate when Elston Howard appeared in pinstripes for the first time on April 14, 1955.

Game MVP: Dominguez

When Kansas City presented the Yanks with the opportunity to win the game, it was Dominguez – in his first at-bat from the right side – who seized the moment.

Highlights

What’s next

The Yankees look to complete the three-game sweep of the Royals on Wednesday, first pitch is set for 7:05 p.m.

Right-hander Clarke Schmidt will make his season debut and face off against Kansas City left-hander Kris Bubic (0.96 ERA, 0.964 WHIP in 18.2 innings).

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