Ryan Weathers dazzles with 7.1 shutout innings in Yankees win
A big start and an explosive first inning led the Yankees to the Sunday sweep.
NEW YORK, NY - APRIL 19: Ryan Weathers #40 of the New York Yankees pitches during the game between the Kansas City Royals and the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium on Sunday, April 19, 2026 in New York, New York. (Photo by Michael Urakami/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images The start of the game was delayed a little over three hours, but it didn’t seem to affect either the Yankees’ bats or arms. With a chance to sweep the Royals, the club did just that, flattening their onetime bitter rivals behind Ryan Weathers’ strong start and a big first inning for the lineup.
The Yankees move to 13-9 with a dominant 7-0 victory on Sunday. We got right to it once play was allowed, with leadoff hitter Ben Rice doing his job and walking, ahead of Aaron Judge: View Link That’s Judge’s fifth first-inning dinger of the season, more or less able to start his team with a lead before the game really starts. It’s also Judge’s ninth overall homer, second in baseball behind the currently-unconscious Yordan Alvarez, who cracked his 10th today.
Austin Wells helped keep the pressure on in the first, bringing Cody Bellinger in with a sac fly after Cole Ragans walked three of four batters to load the bases. If you stuck around the Stadium through the entire delay, you were certainly rewarded with that big first inning. Ben Rice continued to burnish his case for abolishing the platoon, taking Ragans to right field for his eighth long ball of the year, and fourth straight game with one: View Link This looks like a porch job, but it turns out Statcast has it a homer in 21 of the 30 MLB parks.
Ben’s maturation as a hitter — and the two walks he took today — sure make him a good candidate to hit in front of Judge atop the lineup. Trent Grisham helped the club put the game out of reach in the fifth: View Link For all the fun of the offense though, the real story may have been Ryan Weathers. The Yankee lefty had a second excellent start in three outings, going 7.