Verdugo's go-ahead single and acrobatic catch lift Yankees over Royals 6-5 in ALDS opener

NEW YORK (AP) — Alex Verdugo hit a tiebreaking single in the seventh inning and saved at least one run with a sliding catch along the left-field line, boosting the New York Yankees over the Kansas City Royals 6-5 on Saturday night in their AL Division Series opener.

New York’s Gleyber Torres and Kansas City’s MJ Melendez hit two-run homers in a back-and-forth game in which the Royals wasted leads of 1-0, 3-2 and 5-4 and the Yankees failed to hold 2-1 and 4-3 margins. It was the first postseason game with five lead changes, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

“What a game!” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said.

Kansas City pitchers tied their season high with eight walks, forcing in a pair of runs in the fifth inning. The Yankees were just 1 for 11 with runners in scoring position before Verdugo lined a single off loser Michael Lorenzen.

Verdugo’s hit scored Jazz Chisholm Jr., who singled leading off and stole second on a play allowed to stand following a video review.

“I think we did have a really good argument that that should have been overturned,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said.

Boone started a slumping Verdugo in left over rookie Jasson Domínguez in a decision influenced by defense.

“I feel like I’m pretty real with myself,” Verdugo said. “As in fans booing me, fans getting on me. I understand it. I was booing myself, too.”

Verdugo entered in a 3-for-25 skid at the plate.

“I just kind of let it spiral out of control a little bit,” Verdugo said. “For me, it was just really leaning on my guys in the clubhouse. They all got my back. They all know what kind of player I am and how I played throughout my whole career and just kept telling me, `Man, don’t let this season or this little glimpse make your whole year. You can make up for a lot of things in the playoffs.'”

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.

Chisholm, playing third base this year for the first time after the Yankees acquired him from Miami at the July trade deadline, made three fine defensive plays, two with the help of first baseman Oswaldo Cabrera, starting because of Anthony Rizzo’s fractured fingers.

Four Yankees relievers combined to allow only an unearned run over four innings after ace Gerrit Cole came out, unhappy with his performance. Clay Holmes, dropped from his closer’s job last month, worked 1 2/3 scoreless innings for the win. Luke Weaver got four straight outs for the save in his postseason debut.

Yankees star Aaron Judge went 0 for 4 with three strikeouts, and Royals standout Bobby Witt Jr. was 0 for 5, barking at plate umpire Adam Hamari after a called third strike in the ninth.

Juan Soto went 3 for 5 and threw out Salvador Perez in the second inning trying to score from second on Melendez’s single to right. Kansas City first baseman Yuli Gurriel threw out runners at the plate on grounders in the first and fifth.

After a day off between Games 1 and 2, the series between the AL-best Yankees and wild-card Royals resumes Monday night. These teams met in four playoffs from 1976-80, with the Yankees winning the first three and getting swept in the last.

Cole allowed four runs — three earned — and seven hits in five-plus innings. Royals starter Michael Wacha gave up three runs, four hits and three walks in four-plus innings.

Tommy Pham hit a second-inning sacrifice fly, and Torres put the Yankees ahead 2-1 in the third with a 339-foot home run just over the right-field short porch.

Melendez’s two-run homer in the fourth gave Kansas City a 3-2 lead, but Royals pitchers issued four seven-pitch walks in the fifth, forcing in runs with walks by Angel Zerpa to Austin Wells and by John Schreiber to Anthony Volpe. The Yankees had not gotten a pair of bases-loaded walks in a postseason game since Bullet Joe Bush and Joe Dugan against the New York Giants’ Rosy Ryan in Game 6 of the 1923 World Series.

“They looked at a lot of pitches. We were close, but not good enough pitches to make them count,” Zerpa said through a translator.

Volpe's throwing error at shortstop set up pinch-hitter Garrett Hampson's two-run, sixth-inning single through a drawn-in infield that put the Royals ahead 5-4. Wells, in a 2-for-43 slide, tied the score in the bottom half with a two-out RBI single off Lorenzen.

UP NEXT

New York's Carlos Rodón (16-9, 3.96 ERA) starts Game 2 in the best-of-five series against the Royals' Cole Ragans (11-9, 3.14) in a matchup of left-handers.

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge (99) reacts after striking out against the Kansas City Royals during the sixth inning of Game 1 of the American League baseball division series, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)

New York Yankees third base Jazz Chisholm Jr. reacts after a base hit against the Kansas City Royals during the seventh inning of Game 1 of the American League baseball division series, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)

Kansas City Royals third base Maikel Garcia reacts after striking out to end the top of the eighth inning against the New York Yankees during Game 1 of the American League baseball division series, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)

Kansas City Royals' MJ Melendez (1) reacts as he rounds the bases after hitting a solo home run against the New York Yankees during the fourth inning of Game 1 of the American League baseball division series, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)

New York Yankees' Gleyber Torres reacts after hitting a two-run home run against the Kansas City Royals during the third inning Game 1 of the American League baseball division series, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)

Kansas City Royals pitcher Michael Wacha (52) is relieved by Kansas City Royals manager Matt Quatraro (33) during the fifth inning of Game 1 of the American League baseball division series against the New York Yankees, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in New York.

New York Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole walks off the mound during the sixth inning of Game 1 of the American League baseball division series against the Kansas City Royals, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)

Kansas City Royals second base Michael Massey (19) can't make the tag on New York Yankees' Jazz Chisholm Jr. who stole second base during the seventh inning of Game 1 of the American League baseball division series, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)

New York Yankees' Jazz Chisholm Jr. reacts as he scores against the Kansas City Royals during the seventh inning of Game 1 of the American League baseball division series, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)

New York Yankees outfielder Alex Verdugo (24) comes up with the catch on a fly ball hit by Kansas City Royals' Michael Massey to end the fourth inning during Game 1 of the American League baseball division series, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)

New York Yankees outfielder Alex Verdugo (24) comes up with the catch on a fly ball hit by Kansas City Royals' Michael Massey to end the fourth inning during Game 1 of the American League baseball division series, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)

New York Yankees' Alex Verdugo (24) connects for a double to drive in a run against the Kansas City Royals during the seventh inning of Game 1 of the American League baseball division series, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

New York Yankees' Alex Verdugo reacts after driving in a run on a double against the Kansas City Royals during the seventh inning of Game 1 of the American League baseball division series, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)

New York Yankees catcher Austin Wells (28) and outfielder Alex Verdugo celebrate after defeating the Kansas City Royals in Game 1 of the American League baseball division series, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)

New York Yankees left fielder Alex Verdugo, left, center fielder Aaron Judge, center, and Juan Soto celebrate after beating the Kansas City Royals in Game 1 of the American League baseball division series, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)

President-elect Donald Trump's billionaire ally Elon Musk played a key role this week in killing a bipartisan funding proposal that would have prevented a government shutdown, railing against the plan in a torrent of more than 100 X posts that included multiple false claims.

The X owner, an unelected figure, not only used his outsize influence on the platform to help sway Congress, he did so without regard for the facts and gave a preview of the role he could play in government over the next four years.

“Trump has got himself a handful with Musk,” John Mark Hansen, a professor of political science at the University of Chicago, said in an email. “Trump’s done this kind of thing before, blowing up a bill at the last minute. This time, though, it looks like he was afraid of Musk upstaging him. Now there’s a new social media bully in town, pushing the champion social media bully around.”

Hansen added: “We’ll see what Musk’s influence is when he runs up against reality — like when he proposes cutting off ‘wasteful’ spending for other people but not NASA contracts for Space-X.”

Musk’s objections to the 1,547-page omnibus bill included misinformation about congressional salaries, federal funding and public health preparedness, among other topics.

He alleged that the plan included a 40% raise for lawmakers. But the maximum pay increase possible through the proposal would have been 3.8%, according to the Congressional Research Service.

One way that members of Congress can receive a pay raise is through automatic adjustments that go into effect unless denied by law. Most members make $174,000 per a year after their last increase of 2.8% in 2009. Congressional leadership is the exception, with the Speaker of the House earning the most at $223,500 annually.

The rejected bill struck a section from a previous appropriations act that denied members of Congress this automatic pay raise. A maximum increase of 3.8% would have bumped their annual salary by about $6,600, to approximately $180,000 annually.

Musk also shared a post from another user that falsely claimed the bill provided $3 billion in funding for a potential new stadium for the NFL's Washington Commanders, commenting: “This should not be funded by your tax dollars!”

The bill included a provision to transfer control of the land that houses RFK Stadium from the federal government to the District of Columbia. That transfer is necessary to pave the way for the Commanders to possibly build a new stadium in the franchise's old home — though the team is still considering other locations.

However, no such funding is provided by the bill. It states, in fact, that the federal government “shall not be responsible for payment or any costs or expenses” that the District of Columbia incurs after the transfer is complete aside from responsibilities related to specific environmental issues.

District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser addressed false claims about the stadium's funding on Thursday, calling them “frustrating.”

“It was stated that the C.R. contains $3 billion for a stadium,” she said at a press conference. "All wrong. There are no federal dollars related to the transfer of RFK and in fact, the legislation does not require or link at all to a stadium.

Bowser added that she has reached out to the Trump administration to correct misinformation about this issue.

In a third post, Musk incorrectly claimed that “We're funding bioweapon labs in this bill!”

The plan provided funds for up to 12 regional biocontainment research laboratories, not facilities for creating bioweapons. It stipulates that among their uses, the labs will conduct biomedical research to prepare for biological agents such as emerging infectious diseases.

A spokesperson for Musk did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Associated Press.

Some members of Congress expressed dismay that Musk had disseminated misinformation about the bill.

“I love you Elon but you need to take 5 seconds to check your sources before highlighting bottom feeders looking for clicks,” Rep. Dan Crenshaw, a Texas Republican, wrote on X.

In a hastily convened Thursday evening vote, the House rejected a new Trump-backed bill whittled down to 116 pages, with the bill failing 174-235. Dozens of Republicans joined Democrats in opposition.

The House finally approved a third spending deal Friday evening, and the Senate followed suit early Saturday. President Joe Biden planned to sign it into law later Saturday.

Trump led Republicans into the longest government shutdown in history in his first term during the 2018 Christmas season, and interrupted the holidays in 2020 by tanking a bipartisan COVID-relief bill and forcing a do-over.

FILE - Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, left, and Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump attend a campaign event at the Butler Farm Show, Oct. 5, 2024, in Butler, Pa. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

FILE - President-elect Donald Trump listens to Elon Musk as he arrives to watch SpaceX's mega rocket Starship lift off for a test flight from Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, Nov. 19, 2024. (Brandon Bell/Pool via AP, File)