Three takeaways from the Yankees' ALDS Game 1 win over the Royals
The Yankees’ Jazz Chisholm Jr. scores go-ahead run on Alex Verdugo's single in the seventh inning as Royals catcher Salvador Perez fields late throw during Game 1 of the ALDS at Yankee Stadium on Saturday. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
Juan Soto said after Saturday night’s 6-5 victory over the Royals in Game 1 of the AL Division Series that the Yankees didn't mind having an odd day off on Sunday — even though they just had five days off before the opener and are off again on Tuesday before the series shifts to Kansas City.
“We’ll take it as a break after a game today,” Soto said. “I think it was perfect to have an off day and then come back Monday.”
With that in mind, here are some takeaways after Game 1 and going into Game 2 in the spirit of it never being too early to make sweeping generalizations after a single postseason game:
All that Jazz
The margin of victory can be so tiny in the playoffs. As small as the heel of Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s left spike.
Before Alex Verdugo drove in what proved to be the winning run with a two-out single in the seventh, Chisholm got into scoring position by stealing second base.
But Chisholm should have been out. Maybe he was.
Chisholm was heading back to first as Michael Lorenzen delivered a 3-and-2 breaking pitch to Anthony Volpe, which Volpe swung through. A decent throw by Salvador Perez would have nailed Chisholm. But second baseman Michael Massey had to leap for the throw and Chisholm just beat the tag.
Or did he? The safe call was deemed confirmed on replay by the tip of Chisholm’s heel, but Royals manager Matt Quatraro said after the game that he thought the replay umpires got it wrong.
“I knew I was in there,” Chisholm said. “That’s what we were talking about at second base, actually. He was like, ‘I think I put down a good tag.’ I said, ‘You did put down a good tag. That doesn’t mean I’m out.’ ”
On Verdugo’s RBI single, Chisholm flew around third base with his head down and scored standing up as the throw from leftfielder MJ Melendez was wide and skipped away from Perez. It could have been close with a true throw.
“I kind of blacked out at the moment,” Chisholm said. “As soon as he swung, I just was going. Didn’t look at a stop sign, didn’t do anything. I was planning on scoring.”
Yankees baserunning has not been a strength this season. Giancarlo Stanton’s plodding style of running — necessary because of his leg injuries — cost the Yankees two runs, once when Stanton didn’t try to score from first on a two-out double that bounced away from centerfielder Kyle Isbel and later when he couldn’t beat out what for almost any other player would have been an RBI infield single.
“It’s a controlled gait that he has to get into,” manager Aaron Boone said. “It is something you’ve kind of got to live with.”
Luke, meet Mo
Luke Weaver said the other day that he has never met Mariano Rivera.
Weaver did his best Mariano impression in Game 1. Called in with two outs and a man on in the eighth and the Yankees holding a one-run lead in his postseason debut, Weaver retired all four batters he faced, striking out the first three and getting Vinnie Pasquantino on a grounder to first to end it.
It was the fifth save of Weaver’s nine-year career. All of them have come since Sept. 6.
“Excellent,” Boone said, “especially his first time in the playoffs. Going through the top of that order right there after finishing off the eighth inning is no easy task, and he was up to it.”
If Rivera throws out a first pitch before a postseason game, Weaver should make it a point to introduce himself.
The man Weaver replaced as closer, Clay Holmes, was the winning pitcher. Holmes used to own the ninth for the Yankees but blew an MLB-high 13 saves. No other pitcher had more than nine.
On Saturday, Holmes was warming as early as the fourth with Gerrit Cole struggling before entering the game in the sixth. Holmes threw 1 2/3 innings of scoreless ball. He is unscored upon in 9 1/3 postseason innings and has a history of going on epic runs of effectiveness.
Just keep him away from the ninth.
MVP candidates Judge, Witt Jr. quiet
Aaron Judge, who came in as a .211 career postseason hitter, went 0-for-4 with a walk and three strikeouts. In his final regular-season appearance exactly a week earlier, he went 0-for-5 with five strikeouts in a meaningless game against Pittsburgh.
As the postseason moves on, if Judge isn’t the MVP-type player Yankees fans know and love from the regular season, the pressure to overcome his postseason history will increase.
But at least Judge’s team won. Royals MVP candidate Bobby Witt Jr. went 0-for-5 with a strikeout looking against Weaver for the second out of the ninth.
Also, the biggest takeaway from Saturday: It was just one game.
Anthony Rieber covers baseball, as well as the NFL, NBA and NHL. He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since July 5, 2004.
