Verdugo Stars in Game 1 Rollercoaster Win! NY 6 KC 5

October 6, 2024 paperbacklou 2024 0

Alex Verdugo went 2 for 3 with a walk, 2 runs scored, 2 tremendous plays in the field, and the game-winning RBI single in the 7th inning to put the Yanks ahead for good in a rollercoaster 6-5 win over Kansas City at Yankee Stadium on a Saturday night — temps in the 60’s.

The game see-sawed all night: Gleyber Torres hit a 2-run homer in the 3rd to give NY a 2-1 lead, KC went back up 3-2, NY retook the lead at 4-3, KC went up 5-4, NY tied it 5-5 and then went ahead 6-5 — before Clay Holmes, Tommy Kahnle, and Luke Weaver shut the Royals out over the last 3.2 innings.

KC put good swings on Gerrit Cole, but the Yankee defense had his back, as did the Yankee offense — working long at bats and plating runs. NY scored runs on bases-loaded walks to Austin Wells and Anthony Volpe in the 5th. Wells also had a clutch RBI single in the 6th to tie the game 5-5.

“It was a battle back and forth,” said Gerrit Cole afterwards. “We played outstanding defense, really. That was the highlight of the night for me. Judge running down the ball in center; Verdugo with the sliding catch to kill a rally; Juan Soto with the perfect throw to get Salvador. That kept us in the ballgame.”

“I made my fair share of mistakes; that’s for sure; need to be sharper. But they put a couple of really good pitches in play and one of them was the Melendez homer. They were putting really good swings on a lot of pitches. They were on top of their game.”

The Yanks have a 1-0 lead in the best-of-5 series; next game Monday night at The Stadium.

1. KC Puts Good At Bats on Cole; Saved by D

Gerrit Cole pitched a 1-2-3 inning in the 1st, helped by a terrific catch in center by Aaron Judge.

Cole got in trouble in the 2nd — Salvador Perez leading off with a single, Yuli Gurriel working a walk, and Melendez ripping a single to right — but Perez tried to score and Juan Soto gunned him down at the plate — stifling what could have been a big KC rally.

Tommy Pham got a KC run in with a sac fly before Cole ended the inning with a strikeout.

Cole got more help from his defense in the 3rd — a terrific play by Volpe at shortstop and nice pick by Oswaldo at 1st to start the inning.

Cole then allowed a single in that 3rd but got the next 2 outs and entered the 4th with a 2-1 lead.

But he couldn’t hold that 2-1 lead — he gave up a 1-out walk to Gurriel and a 363-foot homer to right center to leftfielder MJ Melendez for a 3-2 KC lead.

Verdugo Catch Saves Cole & the Yanks

After the homer, Cole allowed a single to Tommy Pham, struck out a batter, then allowed a single to Garcia — putting runners on 1st and 2nd with 2 outs. That’s when Alex Verdugo saved Cole and the Yanks with a tremendous sliding catch in left to end the inning!

With NY down 3-2, Cole pitched a 1-2-3 shutout inning in the 5th, and given a 4-3 lead for the 6th — allowed a leadoff single off the wall in left that Alex Verdugo made a good play on — playing the karom perfectly and limiting Guriel to a single. Cole was relieved by Tim Hill.

2. Gleyber Gives Yanks 2-1 Lead

Meanwhile, the Yanks were working good at bats of their own.

Yanks Waste 2nd & 3rd Nobody Out in 1st

Gleyber Torres led off the game with a walk against Michael Wacha, and Juan Soto — who had 3 hits on the night — doubled, putting runners on 2nd and 3rd with nobody out. But Aaron Judge Struck out, Austin Wells hit a fielder’s choice grounder — Gleyber out at home — and Giancarlo Stanton struck out.

Gleyber Day

Wacha pitched a 1-2-3 shutout inning in the 2nd, but in the 3rd, Alex Verdugo led off with a single and Gleyber Torres hit a 339-foot homer into the short porch in right for a 2-1 Yankee lead.

3. Yanks Take 4-3 Lead on Walks

The Yanks continued to pepper Wacha — in the 4th Giancarlo Stanton worked a leadoff walk, and Oswaldo Cabrera ripped a 2-out double putting runners on 2nd and 3rd — but Verdugo fouled out to end the inning.

Gleyber led off the 5th with a walk against Wacha, sending him to the showers at 70 pitches. In came Angel Zerpa but he was no relief — Juan Soto singled and Aaron Judge worked a walk to load the bases with nobody out. Austin Wells worked a walk for a run to tie the game 3-3.

KC brought in John Schreiber with bases loaded, nobody out still. He got Stanton to foul out and Jazz Chisholm Jr. to ground into a fielder’s choice — Soto out at home.

With 2 outs, bases loaded in a tie game — Anthony Volpe came up HUGE by working a 7-pitch walk for a run — NY 4 KC 3.

4. KC Jumps Ahead 5-4 in 6th

Disaster struck in the 6th after Cole allowed the leadoff single and was relieved by Tim Hill.

Hill pitched well — getting MJ Melendez to line out to left, then getting Tommy Pham to hit a hit a soft grounder to shortstop that had single written all over it. Volpe tried to make a play, flipping the ball to 2nd from his knees, but threw the ball away into left field and there were runners on 2nd and 3rd with 1 out.

Garrett Hampson singled in both runners and KC took a 5-4 lead.

5. Wells Clutch RBI Single Ties It 5-5

With the Yanks down 5-4 in the bottom of the 6th and gloom in the air — Alex Verdugo stepped up again — singling to lead off the inning. Gleyber Torres struck out but Juan Soto got his 3rd hit of the game — a single to right to put runners on 1st and 2nd.

Michael Lorenzen came in and struck out Aaron Judge swinging, but with 2 outs, Austin Wells ripped a 1-0 changeup to right, scoring Verdugo for a tie game!

6. Holmes a Hero

Clay Holmes came in to relieve Hill in the 6th, after KC took the 5-4 lead, and got the last 2 outs of the inning, stranding runners on 1st and 2nd.

Holmes then pitched a 1-2-3 shutout 7th — fly out, ground out, fly out — helped by great Yankee defense, as the groundout was a 108-MPH shot by Salvador Perez that Chisholm made the play on.

Holmes getting outs is a huge development for NY; Holmes pitched well in his last few outings of the regular season as well as Boone nursed him back into the fold.

7. Verdugo Clutch RBI Single Game Winner

Jazz Chisholm Jr. led off the bottom of the 7th in a tie game, 5-5, with a single to right off Michael Lorenzen.

Chisholm Steals 2nd — KC Loses Challenge

Lorenzen struck out Anthony Volpe but on the play Jazz Chisholm stole 2nd base — he beat the throw but was ‘just’ safe on a bad slide as his foot luckily brushed the bag. KC challenged the play but lost the challenge — the play was too close to overturn. KC and Boston Red Sox fans howled on Twitter.

Lorenzen struck out Oswaldo Cabrera, but Alex Verdugo came through with the clutch, 2-out, game-winning RBI single to left!

8. Weaver Spectacular

Tommy Kahnle was in for the 8th — NY clinging to a 6-5 lead. He got two groundouts to begin the inning, but then walked Hampson and manager Aaron Boone went for Ace reliever Luke Weaver.

And Weaver was lights out — striking out Maikel Garcia to end the 8th, then striking out Michael Massey and Bobby Witt Jr.to begin the 9th, before getting Vinnie Pasquantino to ground out to Oswaldo Cabrera at 1st for the old ballgame.

The Boxscore

Yankees 6-5 Royals (Oct 5, 2024) Box Score – ESPN

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