The Yankees Steal A Back And Forth Game One Against The Royals Thanks a Bunch to Alex Verdugo's Heroics

Mary DeCicco. Getty Images.

Postseason baseball is not for the faint of heart, man. I can't take this shit. The Yankees just stole Game 1 of the ALDS against the Royals. This one had ups and downs with tense moments everywhere to be found. The remaining little hair I have is nearly gone. Fingernails eviscerated. Heart rate at a career high. Fuck me. 

If I told you Judge and Stanton would combine to go 0 for 8 while Cole doesn't record an out in the 6th, you'd probably assume the Yankees lost this game. Allow me to throw in that Anthony Volpe tried to throw the game with his play and you'd be certain they lost. Well, thanks to a gutsy performance from the pen, Juan Soto being Juan Soto, great managing from Boone, and a legacy game from Alex Verdugo, the Yankees came away with the win. 

Verdugo was the hero of the night. A big point of contention was who should be the Yankees LF in the postseason. Either the more experienced, better fielder in Verdugo or shoot for potential with rookie Jasson Dominguez. Boone trust his vet and was rewarded. On both sides of the ball Dugie made winning plays to shut up idiots like myself. 

In the 7th he gave the Yankees the lead which would end up being the game winner. 

Gerrit Cole had nothing today. He generated nearly zero swings and misses and struggled with location from the start. He was lucky to get through the 5th with the game still within reach. Dude has to be better. Boone was aggressive in pulling him after a leadoff single in the 6th. Tim Hill ran into a lot of bad luck, including a throw away by Volpe on a possible inning ending double play ball. The walking disaster in Clay Holmes came in not soon after in a tight spot and came up in spades. He was great and Boone's trust in him was rewarded with five scoreless outs. Seemingly every lever that Boone pulled worked out besides going infield in with 2nd and 3rd and 1 out. Everything else was perfect. I love to get on the Yankees manager but he was absolutely a positive in Game 1. 

Aaron Judge, however, was a total zero. The allegations that October is too big for him certainly didn't go away. He had multiple moments with men on base only to fail every time. Maybe this was a long con to get KC to pitch to him the rest of the series, but man he was bad at the plate tonight. Stanton as well, had chances to come through and came up with nothing. Volpe was the worst of them all. Three guys just doing whatever they could to give the Royals a fighting chance. 

Juan Soto was awesome. Just fucking awesome. Three hits in his Yankee postseason debut and this rifle of a throw home to get the slowest man alive Salvador Perez trying to score KC's first run. 

Advertisement

Rookie Austin Wells had a big moment himself while Judge and Stanton refused to contribute. This two out knock tied things up in the 6th. He also had a couple walks, one with the bases loaded. Big night for him, especially since he was struggling coming into this. 

The Royals played good, scrappy baseball and had the Yankees up against it all game, but they couldn't come away with the win. Luke Weaver was outstanding to close it out, getting the last 4 outs (thanks blue for the call against Witt in the 9th). That all felt like a steal of a win, and very important timing with Ragans going Monday. Everyone take a deep breath or another sip of your drink. We sleep well tonight and look forward to Game 2. Carlos Rodon's Yankee postseason debut. Oh boy

P.S. Bob Costas was somehow worse than imagined. Holy fuck get this clown out of here.