NEW YORK – Jon Berti looked like a Gold Glove winner in his first professional game at first base.

Due to Anthony Rizzo’s injury, the New York Yankees were forced to use substitutes and used Berti at first in Monday night’s 4-2 loss to the Kansas City Royals, who had tied their American League Division Series at one game apiece Base on.

Berti cleared Yuli Gurriel’s tricky squibber cleanly over the bag in the second inning and then delivered a diving, unassisted double play in the sixth inning to save at least one run – maybe even two.

“I thought he was great at the plate tonight,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said.

Berti reached out to catch pinch-hitter MJ Melendez’s 105.3 mph backhand liner in the sixth, jumped up and stepped to first on Michael Massey for an inning-ending double play .

“Obviously I just reacted to it and I’m glad we can get out of there and give ourselves a chance to move forward,” Berti said.

Berti went 1-for-4 with a strikeout, with two flyouts and a single in the ninth inning.

“Berti is an athlete,” said Yankees third baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. “Just like me, you can use him on any part of the field. He’s going to make plays.”

Acquired from Miami just before Opening Day, Berti posted a .273 batting average in 25 games and 66 at-bats for the Yankees this season while playing second base, third base and left field.

Berti, a 34-year-old veteran of seven big league seasons, had no experience at first base other than the final three innings of a spring training game when Miami played Washington on March 25, 2021. He caught third baseman Joe Dunand’s throw on Jordy Mercer’s grounder in the eighth inning for his only putout.

With Rizzo sidelined by two broken fingers, Oswaldo Cabrera started first in the Yankees’ 6-5 win on Saturday in the series opener.

New York rookie Ben Rice, who initially played while Rizzo was sidelined from mid-June to August with a broken right forearm, was another option on the Yankees’ roster.

Boone was impressed by Berti’s attack on Gurriel’s grounder.

“Sneaky, tough game, especially when you’re not where the ball is turning on you a lot,” Boone said. “I thought he did really well there tonight.”

Rizzo was injured by a hit from Pittsburgh’s Ryan Borucki on Sept. 28 and hopes to be back when the Yankees advance to the League Championship Series.

Berti worked with coach Travis Chapman and Rizzo this past week to learn first base positioning.

“Just a lot of nuances,” said Berti. “There’s a lot more to it than people probably think. But when you come across as a third baseman, a shortstop or a second baseman, you always want to go after every single ball. But as a first baseman, you have to learn what balls he has. We’ll go to the second baseman and get to the first baseman.

Looking ahead to Game 3 in Kansas City on Wednesday night, Boone Clarke selected and announced Schmidt as the starter rather than Luis Gil.

Schmidt, a 28-year-old right-hander, will follow Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodon in the rotation, with Cole starting for Game 4 of the best-of-five series and Rodon for a possible Game 5. A 28-year-old right-hander, Schmidt was 5-5 with a 2.85 ERA in 16 starts and missed time between May 26 and September 7 due to a right lat strain.

“I think this is a great opportunity and something that I’ve been looking forward to and kind of hoping for,” Schmidt said.

Gil, a 26-year-old rookie right-hander, was 15-7 with a 3.50 ERA. He struck out .171 in 151⅔ innings but led the major leagues with 77 walks.

Schmidt said Boone told him about the decision on Sunday.

“It just feels like he’s the right guy for this game,” Boone said. “I have a lot of confidence in what they both bring to the table and as we move forward, hopefully Luis will find himself back in the rotation as well.”