NEW YORK – There are no more surprises with Aaron Judge, not after collecting three American League MVP awards in the past four seasons. If an opponent is caught off guard when the Yankees’ captain belts a first-inning homer into Monument Park, as he did on Sunday, it must not be paying attention.
Ben Rice might not have the same cluttered hardware shelf -- at least, not yet. But the young first baseman is claiming a place among the Majors’ most impactful sluggers, homering for a fourth consecutive game in the Yankees’ 7-0 victory over the Royals at Yankee Stadium, completing a series sweep.
After Judge cracked a two-run homer as part of a three-run first inning, his ninth of the season (and sixth in eight games), Rice reached the right-field seats with a solo homer in the second inning. Rice entered Sunday ranked second in the Majors with a 1.243 OPS.
Both blasts came off left-hander Cole Ragans, who also served up a three-run Trent Grisham homer and walked a career-high eight, ticketed for a fifth-inning shower.
While the Yankees have held Rice out of the lineup at times against southpaws, with manager Aaron Boone saying he likes the freedom of deploying him as a pinch-hitting option, Rice’s performance is making it difficult to take him out no matter who is on the mound.
“He’s just continued to solidify himself,” Boone said. “I think he’s one of the really outstanding hitters in this league, and we’re seeing that more and more.”
Judge and Rice have combined for 17 homers, the most of any teammate duo this year. They’re also the third Yankees tandem to belt eight or more homers each through the team’s first 22 games, joining Yogi Berra and Mickey Mantle (1956), plus Judge and Anthony Rizzo (2022).
The lopsided contest represented the first run support Ryan Weathers has received in five starts this year as the pitcher of record. The left-hander made it hold up, firing 7 1/3 innings to earn his first victory in pinstripes.
It underlined a staple Yankees formula: Hit home runs, then win. The Bombers improved to 8-1 when hitting two or more homers this season; they’re 12-9 in all other games.
Fanatical about his pregame preparation, Judge came out ready to go after a 2-hour, 45-minute rain delay, slugging the first pitch he saw from Ragans over the center-field wall. Judge’s nine homers are second in the Majors, behind Yordan Alvarez (10) of the Astros.
It was the fifth first-inning homer of the season for Judge, whose 90 first-inning homers are third in franchise history behind Babe Ruth (126) and Mantle (103). Since 2024, 45 of Judge’s 120 home runs have come in the first inning.