Calling up Jasson Dominguez let the Yankees and their fans dream about the possibilities. Playoff lineups could be drawn up, with significant names and/or significant résumés up and down the order.
Then the Yankees stepped into the batter’s box and gave those dreams life.
A lineup that can score with strength and speed did both, out-hitting and outrunning the mistakes the club made defensively in a series-opening and Dominguez era-opening 10-4 win over the Royals on Monday.
An energetic crowd of 35,308 saw “The Martian” manufacture one run and another rookie, Austin Wells, drill a three-run, go-ahead home run that capped their second comeback of the night.
The Yankees (83-61) held onto the lead in the AL East despite a 2-0 hole after three innings and a 4-3 deficit after six because they exploded in the seventh.
The Yankees knocked around Royals righty James McArthur in the game-deciding frame.
Gleyber Torres’ infield single and Juan Soto’s walk set the table for Aaron Judge, whose RBI single through the left side tied the game and became the Yankees’ first hit with runners in scoring position in six tries.
With two on, Wells then destroyed a no-doubt shot deep into the right-field seats for his 13th home run of what has been a tremendous rookie season.
The deciding blow would not be the final one: The Yankees had fun with the Royals bullpen in the eighth, when a Torres single scored one, a bases-loaded double play off Judge’s bat scored another and yet another jolt from Wells — a run-scoring double to end a four-RBI night — put the Yankees into double digits.
The Yankees’ earlier offensive work had kept them within striking range. Dominguez, called up that afternoon, singled in the fourth inning, advanced to second on a ground ball from Anthony Rizzo that might have been a double play with a slower runner on first, and then stole third base.
The throw from Kansas City catcher Salvador Perez sailed into left field, allowing Dominguez to score the Yankees’ first run.
Dominguez played center field but is expected to usually patrol left for the final few weeks of the season, bouncing Alex Verdugo to the bench often.
As if on cue — or as if he felt the pressure from competition — Verdugo watched Dominguez score and Oswaldo Cabrera walk and then blasted a two-run homer to right for a temporary lead and just his second dinger in his past 51 games.
Jake Cousins, Luke Weaver and Ian Hamilton tossed three scoreless innings out of the bullpen, preserving a victory that probably should have been even more lopsided.
Carlos Rodon (six innings in which he allowed four runs, two of which were legitimate) was better than his defense.
In the first and fifth innings, the Royals scored with Yankees assists. First it was Tommy Pham reaching first when Jazz Chisholm Jr. fielded his ground ball and threw wildly to first. Pham stole second, watched Wells’ throw bounce into center field and advanced to third before scoring on a Perez single.
Perez blasted a third-inning solo shot for the Royals’ second run before sending a pop-up into the clouds in the fifth inning.
Juan Soto ran in but did not call off Torres, who had overrun the ball. Torres backpedaled too late, the gift single dropping and scoring Bobby Witt Jr. all the way from first for a third Royals run that tied the game.
Rodon could regret two pitches and be proud of the other 96. The big lefty allowed six hits and a walk while striking out nine.