The “little ball of muscle” saved the Yankees from another depressing defeat. Forget for a moment the many big flies from Aaron Judge and Gary Sanchez, Brett Gardner’s ninth-inning blast Friday could turn out to be one of the bigger bombs the Yankees hit this year.
After Aroldis Chapman allowed a run to score on a Sanchez passed ball, the Stadium had grown quiet, as the home team was flirting with losing its ninth game in 10 tries after Masahiro Tanaka’s eight-inning gem. But with one out in the ninth inning, Gardner, described earlier this season as a “little ball of muscle” by Judge, took Rangers closer Matt Bush deep, and Ronald Torreyes plated Sanchez with the game-winning run on a two-out single an inning later for a feel-good 2-1, 10-inning victory.
“I don’t want to say I’m trying to hit a home run, but I’m trying to drive a ball, I’m trying to look for a good pitch to hit,” Gardner said.
The homer, on a 97.9-mph fastball, was the fastest pitch Gardner had ever gone deep on, according to Statcast. He launched the blistering 2-1 fastball over the wall down the right-field line, extending the game for the Yankees and waking up the dormant crowd.
“[Bush is] a guy who throws hard, so you got to be ready for it,” Gardner said. “He’s got a good slider and a good curveball, but I know he’s going to attack me with his header. The last thing he wants to do is walk me, as good as [Aaron] Hicks has been hitting behind me.”
After going hitless in four of his past six starts, Gardner had a big night in the opener of this three-game series, singling to lead off the first and homering in the ninth — his first round-tripper since June 8 — pulling the Yankees even with just two outs to spare. The long ball, Gardner’s 14th of the season, is just three shy of the career high of 17 he hit in 2014. Two of his homers have come in the ninth inning, to either tie a game or give the Yankees the lead.
“That’s why he’s our leadoff guy, why he’s our leader in this clubhouse and why he’s a leader on this team,” Judge said.