In the seventh inning of a tie game, Judge saw a sinker from John Schreiber that cut across the plate and demolished it into the bullpen in right-center for his seventh homer of the season. Mid-April is too soon for pace calculators, but if extrapolated he would be on track for 63.

Clarke Schmidt, who returned from a shoulder injury to make his season debut, put the Yankees in an immediate hole in the first. Shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. singled, advanced to second on a Vinny Pasquantino walk and scampered home on an RBI single to left from cleanup hitter Salvador Perez.

The Yankees swept the Royals in a three-game series and Aaron Judge continued his hot hitting with a huge, go-ahead home run.