Alex Verdugo plays unlikely hero in Yankees' ALDS win in Game 1

While Alex Verdugo spent most of the summer being one of the worst-skilled hitters in the majors, Aaron Boone continued to stand by his left fielder.

And even after Jason Dominguez threatened to take Verdugo's job in September, the Yankees couldn't outright fire him.

At least in the first game in October, this belief was rewarded.

After Boone chose Verdugo as his starting left fielder, the veteran made two key defensive plays and reached base three times, including the lone go-ahead run in the seventh inning that gave the Yankees a 6-5 victory over the Royals in Game 1 the ALDS on Saturday evening in the Bronx.

Even without Gerrit Cole (five innings, four runs) dominating or Aaron Judge (0-for-4, walk) coming through in big spots, the Yankees did enough to stay 1-0 in the best-of-five series To take the lead in front of a loud, sell-out crowd of 48,790 spectators.

The back-and-forth game took its final swing in the seventh inning when Verdugo stepped to the plate with a man on second base, two outs and reliever Michael Lorenzen on the mound.

Verdugo got a cutter in the zone and fired it the other way to left field, allowing Jazz Chisholm Jr. to run home from second and break a 5-5 tie.