Yankees complete Royals sweep with unreal Cody Bellinger catch

“Cody saved that one for us,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said postgame. “That’s a big-league play in a big-league moment.”

Aaron Judge, who earlier delivered the go-ahead home run, also praised the defensive gem.

“There’s a reason why he’s got gold on his glove,” Judge said. “Very few people make that catch, especially in a big moment like that.”

The Yankees sweep the Royals, Cody Bellinger plays hero with his glove

It was the perfect exclamation point to a game already headlined by Judge’s dominance. The Yankees captain reached base all four times he stepped to the plate, going 3-for-3 with a walk and the eventual game-winning homer—his seventh of the season—in the bottom of the seventh inning. Judge’s solo blast off Royals reliever John Schreiber was a 407-foot missile into the bullpen in right-center, breaking a 3-3 tie and giving the Yankees the lead for good.

Judge is off to a blistering start in 2025. Through 18 games, he leads MLB with a .409 batting average and 1.322 OPS, along with an AL-best 21 RBIs. It’s the kind of production that’s becoming routine for the 2022 MVP and 2024 MVP runner-up.

But Judge wasn’t alone in helping New York complete the sweep. Anthony Volpe and Bellinger, both of whom had struggled mightily at the plate in recent weeks, contributed key RBI hits earlier in the game. In the third inning, Volpe ripped a two-run double after a Judge double and Jazz Chisholm Jr. walk. An inning later, Bellinger drove in two with a ground-rule double down the first base line, pushing the Yankees ahead 4-1.

On the mound, Clarke Schmidt gave the Yankees a much-needed solid outing. Making his season debut after a rehab stint, Schmidt lasted 5 2/3 innings, allowing three runs on four hits and two walks while striking out two. He wasn’t overpowering, but he was efficient and kept the Royals off balance through the middle innings.

Kansas City jumped out early with an RBI double from Salvador Perez in the first, and clawed back with two more runs in the fifth courtesy of a triple by Kyle Isbel and a groundout by Jonathan India. That tied the game at three before Judge’s home run tipped the scales.

The Yankees’ bullpen handled the rest. Mark Leiter Jr. and Fernando Cruz combined for 3 1/3 innings of scoreless relief, with Cruz working around a walk and a single in the ninth before Bellinger’s highlight-reel catch slammed the door.

With the win, the Yankees improved to 11-7 and wrapped up a 4-2 homestand. They now hit the road for a three-city trip, starting in Tampa. And while the offense is humming, it’s clear the defense — and Bellinger — won’t be taking a back seat anytime soon.