NEW YORK -- This American League Division Series was only a few days away, and Alex Verdugo still couldn’t speak with any authority about his role on the Yankees' roster, responding with a verbal shrug. He had lost playing time in the final month of the regular season, and no certain answers seemed available to be found.

As it turned out, Verdugo would not only be starting in the playoffs, but he would be starring. Verdugo delivered the final blow in a back-and-forth opener, stroking a go-ahead single in the seventh inning that lifted the Yankees to a 6-5 victory over the Royals in ALDS Game 1 on Saturday evening at Yankee Stadium.

Verdugo’s hit off Michael Lorenzen, his second of the game, chased home Jazz Chisholm Jr. with a run that represented the fifth lead change of the game -- the most ever in a postseason contest, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

In all best-of-five postseason series, the team that wins Game 1 has gone on to take the series 109 of 152 times (72%). In Division Series under the current 2-2-1 format, teams winning Game 1 at home have advanced 37 of 51 times (73%).

“He’s the guy,” Juan Soto said of Verdugo to TBS after the win. “No matter what happened in the past, we keep grinding and we keep going, and he showed it today. He’s proving that he’s a great player and he’s here for us.”

The go-ahead knock came after manager Aaron Boone opted to start the veteran in left field over top prospect Jasson Domínguez, pointing to Verdugo’s more reliable defense and his career track record at the plate, even though Verdugo slumped markedly in the second half.

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Boone noted Verdugo’s playoff experience with the Red Sox, believing that the moment would not overwhelm, a hunch that proved correct. Verdugo also saved a couple of runs with a sliding catch on a Michael Massey pop fly in the fourth.

Gleyber Torres hit a two-run homer in the third inning for the Yankees, who took advantage of four walks to score a couple of runs in the fifth.

“It was a tough first half for him,” Boone said of Torres. “He just kept grinding away, and I think we all knew that the kind of hitter he is, he would find his level, and he certainly has in the second half. He’s been such a spark in the leadoff spot.”

Austin Wells had a game-tying RBI single in the sixth, setting the stage for Verdugo’s hit.

The Yanks had to claw back after Gerrit Cole was not sharp, touched for four runs (three earned) and seven hits over five-plus innings. Tommy Pham lifted a second-inning sacrifice fly and MJ Melendez hit a two-run homer in the fourth inning to highlight the attack against Cole, who walked two and struck out four.

New York’s defense also struggled. Anthony Volpe threw away a potential double-play ball in the sixth inning that set up Garrett Hampson’s pinch-hit, two-run single off Tim Hill.

But behind Hill, the Yankees' bullpen was sharp. Clay Holmes (1-0), Tommy Kahnle and Luke Weaver (four-out save) held the Royals scoreless the rest of the way.