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Jorge Castillo, ESPN Staff Writer
NEW YORK — Jazz Chisholm Jr. stood at first base in the seventh inning of the Yankees‘ 6-5 win Saturday night, reading the game in front of him, calculating whether there was a chance for him to swipe second.
He represented the winning run in the Yankees’ seesaw clash with the Kansas City Royals in Game 1 of the American League Division Series. Reaching scoring position was paramount.
Finally, with Anthony Volpe in a full count against Michael Lorenzen, Chisholm let first-base coach Travis Chapman know it was time.
“Hey, I might go here,” Chisholm told Chapman. “He might bury one now.”
Sure enough, Chisholm dashed for second as Lorenzen buried a sweeper in the dirt to strike out Volpe. He got a poor jump, but Royals catcher Salvador Pérez‘s throw sailed, forcing second baseman Michael Massey to leap to make the catch before applying an acrobatic tag.
Chisholm’s left foot just beat Massey’s glove — or so second-base umpire Lance Barrett ruled. The Royals challenged the call.
One replay angle showed Massey’s glove might have touched Chisholm’s foot with a sliver of space between him and the bag, making for a suspenseful break in the action. But the call stood to keep the scoring threat alive.
Two batters later Alex Verdugo capitalized, slashing a line drive to left field to score the speedy Chisholm, who nearly collided with umpire Adam Hamari after crossing the plate to give the Yankees the lead for good.
“I knew I was in there,” Chisholm said of the bang-bang play at second base. “That’s what we were talking about at second base, actually. [Massey] was like, ‘I put down a good tag.’ I said, ‘You did put down a good tag. That doesn’t mean I’m out.'”
Royals manager Matt Quatraro saw it differently after looking at the play postgame.
“I haven’t gotten any sort of explanation,” Quatraro said. “In my opinion, I thought we had a really good argument to get that overturned.”
From there, Tommy Kahnle and Luke Weaver combined to keep Kansas City scoreless over the final two innings. Weaver recorded the final four outs, three via strikeout. One drew more scorn from the Royals’ dugout: After falling behind 3-0 against Bobby Witt Jr., the Royals’ star shortstop, Weaver worked his way back to a full count. Finally, on the eighth pitch of the at-bat, he struck Witt out on a fastball Witt thought was too low.
Instead of a walk and Witt, perhaps the fastest player in the majors, on first base to wreak havoc, the Royals were down to their final out.
Chisholm reaching base in the seventh inning with a leadoff single changed the game. His exploits on the basepaths — both the steal and easily scoring from second base to give the Yankees the lead — showcased one of the reasons New York acquired him from the Miami Marlins at the trade deadline.
Yes, he has the pop and a swing from the left side seemingly made for Yankee Stadium’s short porch in right field. Yes, his positional versatility is an asset; he showed up and became the team’s third baseman after never playing the position. And yes, he has two more years of team control before hitting free agency.
But the Yankees, beyond Volpe, lacked speed and athleticism in their every-day lineup. They were eager to add another dynamic player who could provide another dimension in October. In Chisholm they boast a weapon with the ability to impact games with his legs — and the confidence to impact them when the lights are brightest.
“Nobody’s going to throw me out,” Chisholm said.
