NEW YORK (AP) — Alex Verdugo felt a little cooked this season, so he hired a personal chef.
Revived by his new diet, Verdugo hit a tiebreaking single in the seventh inning and saved at least one run with a sliding catch along the left-field line to boost the New York Yankees over the Kansas City Royals 6-5 on Saturday night in their AL Division Series opener.
He gave some of the credit to his nutrition.
“It’s made me feel a lot better, a lot more energized on a day-to-day basis and recovering a little bit better, less lethargic,” he said.
New York won the first postseason game with five lead changes, according to the Elias Sports Bureau, behind Verdugo’s bat and glove.
In his first season since the Yankees acquired him from Boston, the chatty 28-year-old outfielder with the mood lamp in his locker was hitting .266 on June 14 but went into a tailspin that coincided with the start of the Yankees’ 39-38 slide.
Verdugo batted .197 from then through August. New York called up rookie outfielder Jasson Domínguez on Sept. 9 and Verdugo started just 11 more games. He finished with a .233 average — his lowest in a full season — along with 13 homers and 61 RBIs.
Yankees manager Aaron Boone wanted Verdugo in left field against Kansas City, partly because of his superior defense.
“Just trusting that he’s going to be ready for the moment and his experience and his track record,” Boone said. “I know it’s been a little bit of an up-and-down tough second half for him offensively, but the guy is a good hitter.”
With the Yankees trailing 3-2, Verdugo made a sliding catch on Michael Massey’s fourth-inning fly just inside the line to strand two runners. The ball hit the heel of Verdugo’s glove and bounced off his chest before he grabbed it with his bare hand.
“Thank goodness it popped over to the left hand, so it all worked out,” he said at the postgame news conference, wearing a sweatshirt emblazoned with the name of his native Tucson and a diamond sparkling from each ear.
Watching from the dugout, Boone didn’t catch Verdugo’s juggling act.
“That’s as tough a chance as you’re going to have with a left fielder with that ball slicing like that on the run,” Boone said. “That’s easy to get handcuffed and mess that play up.”
Verdugo, who entered a 3-for-25 skid, stepped into the batter’s box with one out in the seventh inning of a 5-5 game.
Jazz Chisholm Jr. was at second after a leadoff single and a stolen base that was allowed to stand following a video review Royals manager Matt Quatraro thought should have led to an overturned call. Verdugo lined a cutter into left field that sent Chisholm across the plate standing up. Advancing to second on the throw, Verdugo raised his arms in triumph.
“When the lights are brightest, that’s when we want to play,” he said. “There’s finally a finish line, and when you see that, it’s basically full sprint.”
He admitted Domínguez’s arrival had been a blow.
“I was obviously a little bit upset, but I understood what went into it,” he said. “I just started eating better, started kind of doing some stuff to address certain things that were bothering me throughout the year while I was having some more days off than I would have liked. And I feel like that’s really benefitted me now into feeling fresh and feeling ready to go and ready to run through a wall now.”
He didn’t give the exact food any thought.
“I’m eating stuff that I didn’t even know you could throw into a plate,” Verdugo said. “It’s way over my head.”
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