After waiting 713 days for playoff baseball to return to the Bronx, a restless crowd filled the seats inside Yankee Stadium on Saturday night.
Long before Gerrit Cole threw the first pitch of the ALDS, Yankees fans booed the visiting Royals, roared for Juan Soto’s pinstriped postseason debut, and thunderously declared Aaron Judge “MVP.” With the building buzzing prior to the action, Kansas City found itself in hostile territory.
The stars did not deliver the crucial blow, though, as Alex Verdugo’s seventh-inning, opposite-field single scored Jazz Chisholm Jr. and gave the Yankees the go-ahead run in a 6-5 win. Earlier in the day, Aaron Boone said it was a “fairly” easy call to start the embattled hitter in left field over Jasson Domínguez, a lively debate surrounding the Yankees for weeks given both players’ shortcomings.
ALEX VERDUGO SINGLE FOR THE LEAD!!! pic.twitter.com/3NdJPyJq57
— Talkin’ Yanks (@TalkinYanks) October 6, 2024
With Verdugo tested in the playoffs and a superior defender, Boone went with the veteran. But those weren’t the only reasons Verdugo got the nod.
“As well as he’s played in left, just felt like it was the right thing to do,” Boone said, “and I still feel like he’s got a good run of offense in him too.”
The comment proved prophetic, as Verdugo went 2-for-3 with a walk and two runs scored. He also stopped the Royals from tacking on to a two-run frame when he made a sliding catch near the left field foul line in the fourth inning.
Gerrit Cole, who allowed a two-run homer to MJ Melendez earlier in the inning, benefitted from that web gem. The ace allowed three earned runs over five innings of work.
Cole hardly looked his best, allowing 11 hard-hit balls while walking two and striking out three.
Back on offense, Gleyber Torres made up for running into a first-inning out at the plate when he lofted a two-run homer off Michael Wacha in the third inning. That put the Yankees up one after Tommy Pham got the Royals on the board with a second-inning sac fly.
The Yankees tied the game and took the lead in the bottom of the fifth when Austin Wells and Anthony Volpe worked walks with the bases loaded.
Volpe then set Kansas City’s Garrett Hampson up for a two-run, go-ahead single when the shortstop made a throwing error in the sixth inning. However, Wells tied the game at five with a single in the bottom of the inning.
Verdugo, often a target for Yankees fans this season, then gave the Bombers the lead for good before Luke Weaver notched a four-out save.
While the Yankees stranded 11 runners — Giancarlo Stanton’s lack of speed burned them twice — and went 2-for-13 with runners in scoring position, the lineup did just enough to start the 2024 postseason with a win.
Now the Yankees will look to take a 2-0 series lead with Carlos Rodón on the mound for Game 2 on Monday. He struck out nine Royals while permitting four runs (2 earned) over six innings on Sept. 9.
Cole Ragans is scheduled to start for Kansas City. He held the Yankees to three hits and two earned runs over six innings at Yankee Stadium on Sept. 11.