The unexpected sometimes occurs in the postseason such as a slumping player like Alex Verdugo delivering big plays for the Yankees on Saturday night against the Royals.
Playing against each other in the postseason for the first time since 1980, the New York Yankees and Kansas City Royals engaged in a game featuring five lead changes, a first in postseason history according to the Elias Bureau.
The back-and-forth nature of Saturday night prompted injured first baseman Anthony Rizzo to walk up to manager Aaron Boone and state “what a game”.
“What a game” is something to be applied in describing Alex Verdugo’s performance on both ends, turning an ironic plot twist into the first of 11 wins the Yankees hope to attain over the next month or so in order to win the World Series for the first time since 2009.
Verdugo’s game-winning single in the seventh was the difference and made one of the least popular and frustrating players for fans to watch over the past three-plus months a significant reason for the outcome.
Verdugo played a stellar game, perhaps his best in months, making a sliding catch with his bare hand near the foul line in the fourth to avoid things from getting worse for Gerrit Cole after the ace allowed a two-run homer while also reaching base three times for the first time since Sept. 1.
So after the Yankees caught a break on Jazz Chisholm Jr’s stolen base getting upheld on video review despite some possible evidence to the contrary, Verdugo delivered. He lined his single to left on a cutter, a pitch he hit .155 against during a regular season that ended with a 2-for-34 slump and the second hit of that slide being the game-winning two-run, bases-loaded single in the eighth inning on Sunday to end a 94-win regular season where he batted .233.
Upon reaching second on the off target throw from left fielder MJ Melendez, Verdugo lifted both arms in the air, imploring the crowd to get louder and pounded his chest in celebration.
