Everything Aaron Boone touched turned to gold on Saturday night.
The Yankees skipper had two controversial decisions to make when filling out his Game 1 lineup card.
Who would start in left and who would man first base?
The answers to those questions were Alex Verdugo and Oswaldo Cabrera. The manager opted for experience over popular rookie Jasson Dominguez and trusted some inexperience at first base. Both played an enormous role in the Bombers’ 6-5 win over the Royals on Saturday in Game 1 of the ALDS at Yankee Stadium.
Verdugo delivered as the outfielder went 2-for-3, including the go-ahead RBI single to left in the bottom of the seventh and a sliding catch down the left-field line in the top of the fourth to save two runs. Cabrera — who started in favor of Ben Rice — tallied one hit but made a series of throw-saving picks and stretches over at first base.
“The first pick on the ball where [Anthony] Volpe made a really good play in the hole [in the top of the third], that’s a tough one,” said Boone. “Because there wasn’t a lot on that throw and it’s a slower pick. Not an easy one at all. And he made that and then obviously a good stretch on a ball that was smoked at Jazz [Chisholm Jr.]
“Just I thought he did a real nice job for us over there tonight.”
The crucial maneuvering didn’t stop with filling out the lineup card, however.
In October, how you utilize your bullpen can determine the outcome of your season. The 51-year-old pressed all of the right buttons when managing his stable down the stretch of Saturday’s tight contest.
With Gerrit Cole clearly lacking his best stuff — and his pitch count in phenomenal shape with just 80 pitches in the sixth — Boone pulled the hook on his ace after surrendering a leadoff single to Yuli Gurriel in favor of Clay Holmes.
The right-hander struggled for much of the second half and was even demoted from the closer role. However, the skipper insisted that the 31-year-old would still play a huge role in October and would need to get big outs.
That proved true in Game 1 as Holmes tossed 1.2 scoreless innings allowing just one hit and bridging the game to the backend of the bullpen.
“I thought he was excellent,” said Boone. “He comes in and in that spot and kind of has to navigate the middle of the order there to give us five outs. Through the middle of their order, there was obviously a big point in the game where it’s that back and forth.
“So, really excited for him to get in there and do what we know he’s capable of.”
The manager pushed the final and decisive button deciding to go to Luke Weaver for a four-out save in the bottom of the eighth and the right-hander came through retiring all four batters he faced.
October will bring a series of controversial decisions to the plate of Boone, however, on Saturday he pitched a perfect game with calls that could have either made or broken the Yankees in a pivotal victory with the Royals ace Cole Ragans set to pitch on Monday in Game 2.
