NEW YORK – Jazz Chisholm stood at first base in the seventh inning of the New York Yankees' 6-5 win Saturday night, reading the play in front of him and wondering whether he had a chance at second.

He represented the Yankees' see-saw game victory against the Kansas City Royals in Game 1 of the American League Division Series. Reaching the points was of utmost importance.

When Anthony Volpe finally faced Michael Lorenzen, he let first base coach Travis Chapman know it was time.

“Hey, I could go here,” Chisholm told Chapman. “He could bury one now.”

In fact, Chisholm stormed into second place while Lorenzen buried a sweeper in the dirt to destroy Volpe. He made a bad jump, but Royals catcher Salvador Pérez's throw sailed, forcing second baseman Michael Massey to jump to make the catch before applying an acrobatic hit.

Chisholm's left foot just hit Massey's glove – or so second base umpire Lance Barrett decided. The Royals thought he was wrong. You have disputed the secure call.

A replay angle showed that Massey's glove may have touched Chisholm's foot, creating a gap between him and the bag, making for a tense break in the action. But it was important to maintain the goal threat.

Two batters later, Alex Verdugo capitalized, hitting 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,” Chisholm said of the bang-bang play at second base. “That’s exactly what we talked about at second base. (Massey) said, 'I've had a good day.' I said, 'You've had a good day. That doesn't mean I'm out.'”

Royals manager Matt Quatraro saw things differently after taking a look at the postgame plays.

“I didn’t get any explanation,” Quatraro said. “I think we had a really good argument to overturn it.”

From there, Tommy Kahnle and Luke Weaver combined to keep Kansas City scoreless in the final two innings. Weaver recorded the final four outs, three of them via strikeouts. One thing drew even more ridicule from the Royals' dugout: After falling behind 3-0 against Bobby Witt Jr., the Royals' star shortstop, Weaver fought his way back to a full count. Finally, on the eighth pitch of the at-bat, he hit Witt with a fastball that Witt thought was too low.

Instead of drawing a walk and letting Witt, perhaps the fastest player in the majors, wreak havoc at first base, the Royals trailed until their last out.

Meanwhile, Chisholm changed the game when he reached base with a leadoff single in the seventh inning. His heroics on the basepaths – both the steal and the easy score from second base to give the Yankees the lead – were 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 that seems tailor-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 that position. And yes, he still has two years of control over the team before hitting free agency.

But the Yankees lacked speed and athleticism in their everyday lineup beyond Volpe. They were keen to add another dynamic player who could add a new dimension come October. In Chisholm, they have a weapon with the ability to score games with his legs – and the confidence to score them when the lights are brightest.

“Nobody’s going to kick me out,” Chisholm said.