Yankees ALDS Game 2 Notes: Jon Bertis makes first base debut, bullpen picks up the slack

Here are some notes from that Yankees' 2-4 loss to the Kansas City Royals in Game 2 on the ALDS…

No worries at first base

First base was one of the big questions heading into the postseason Anthony Rizzo suffered a pair of broken fingers on the penultimate day of the regular season, leaving the club “not necessarily in this perfect situation,” as the captain said.

In Game 1, that job started Oswaldo Cabrera – a utility man with five total starts and 71.2 total innings in his short career. But left-handed Cole Ragans On the mound for the Royals, Boone decided to bypass Cabrera and the left-hander Ben Rice to give it Jon Bertiwho had never seen action at first base in all of his 3,350.1 innings in the field during his major league career.

“He looked outstanding at his job over there, I can say that,” Boone said before Monday’s game. “He’s played a little bit in spring training over the years, but he’s just a really gifted infielder. And exactly the person in whom I have great trust.”

The manager's faith was rewarded in two moves in the sixth round: Firstly, when Berti made a low throw Jazz Chisholm Jr. to prevent an error from becoming a two-base error and when MJ Melendez cracked a 105.3 mph liner right off that he grabbed and turned it into a run-saving double play in the bottom of the inning with runners on first and second.

“Hell of a play,” Boone said of killing the twins alone. “I think he did really well there tonight and showed us good shots all around. That was good to see.”

In those at-bats, Berti had a single in the ninth inning for a 1-for-4 night with a strikeout.

“He had great offense all night. The first time he took a swing, I felt like he ran in on the 2-2 pitch off the plate, rolled out to the left, rolled out to the right and then hit a really good shot there against Erceg to give us a chance give the ninth,” said Boone.

Bullpen has closed the gap

On the positive side for the Yanks, the bullpen didn't drop the ball in two postseason games.

Next to Ian Hamilton The bullpen allowed a single to the first batter it faced, adding the game's fourth run, keeping the Royals at bay. He allowed just four hits and two walks — with eight strikeouts — in the final 5.1 innings of the game and required just 81 pitches (51 strikeouts) from seven members of Boone's charges.

Of course, even with Tuesday's day off, the Yankees still need a solid performance from their Game 3 starter Clarke Smithas the Royals have now seen almost every arm in the Yanks bullpen except the rookie Luis Gilwho likes Berti would make his debut in a new role in the postseason.