At this rate, Jasson Domínguez might just pull a Martian out of his hat on Wednesday.
Because for his first trick in this series, he had his best defensive game of the season in left field on Monday night.
Then on Tuesday, the young switch-hitter delivered some more magic by coming through with a clutch hit from his weaker side to cap off a three-hit night.
Batting right-handed against lefty reliever Angel Zerpa with the bases loaded and two outs in the sixth inning, Domínguez revived a quiet offense by lining a three-run double that lifted the Yankees to a 4-2 win over the Royals at the Stadium.
Domínguez entered the night 1-for-20 against lefties this season, but provided a big swing — literally, it knocked his helmet off, which also jarred his contact lenses loose — against Zerpa to clinch the series victory ahead of Wednesday’s finale.
“I’ve been having a little bit of a struggle from the right side, but lately I feel I’ve made some improvements,” Domínguez said. “Very important moment in the game. Get a good pitch, something out over the plate and put a good swing on it.”
Domínguez is now hitting .400 (12-for-30) as a left-handed hitter this season, but his right-handed swing has been more of a work in progress.
He credited his improvements to getting more reps and being more on time.
Coming into the season, the two biggest knocks on the 22-year-old were his offensive production from the right side and his defense while transitioning from center to left field full-time.
Domínguez will have to prove he can do both over the course of the long season, but on back-to-back nights against the Royals (8-10), he at least began to answer those questions.
“Extremely talented,” said Max Fried, who tossed 6 ²/₃ innings of two-run ball in another strong effort. “He’s young, but he works really hard. To be able to be in this situation and take advantage of these opportunities, he’s made some really nice plays in the outfield learning a new position and then also just taking really good, quality at-bats. You can see he’s making strides and growing every day.”
Michael Wacha had held the Yankees (10-7) down offensively through the first five innings, with it looking like they might waste Fried’s outing.
They trailed 2-0 and had a man on first base with two outs in the sixth when Wacha walked Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Anthony Volpe on a combined 10 pitches, breathing life into the Yankees and the crowd of 43,601.
Zerpa entered the game and walked Austin Wells on four pitches to force in a run.
Then he got ahead of Domínguez 1-2, only for The Martian to turn on an inside, 96 mph fastball for a bases-clearing double into the left field corner.
“Just glad he could get some results there in a big spot,” manager Aaron Boone said. “His takes, he never seems panicked or rushed. That’s one of the things you always like about him. So you know the situation’s not too big for him.”
Domínguez’s backswing hit his helmet, which fell off over his face and cost him his contacts as he ran out of the box.
That forced him out of the game in the next half inning, though it may have helped the Yankees.
Trent Grisham entered the game in center field (with Cody Bellinger moving to left for Domínguez) and almost immediately made a terrific running catch on a fly ball into the gap in the top of the seventh.
Then, with two on and two outs, Luke Weaver entered from the bullpen to relieve Fried and quickly retired leadoff man Maikel Garcia to end the threat.
Weaver followed by retiring the heart of the Royals order in the eighth inning before Devin Williams closed it out with his first clean outing as a Yankee.
“Jasson obviously coming through was huge,” Fried said, “but I thought it was just a really great team effort.”
