Bye, bye Bird
Greg’s 2-HR night might earn him 1 more shot vs. Sox
With the Red Sox stacking up three left-handed starting pitchers this weekend in the Bronx, the Yankees summoned Brandon Drury from Triple-A Scranton to provide a righty-swinging option to the slumping Greg Bird at first base.
Those plans still might not have changed fully after the oft-injured Bird finally enjoyed a breakout game on Friday night, belting two of the Yankees’ four home runs in an 8-1 victory over Boston at the Stadium. But sitting Bird no longer is a slam-dunk decision, either, for Yanks manager Aaron Boone.
“Perhaps. I’ll think about that a little bit,” Boone replied when asked afterward if Bird earned another start against Sox ace Chris Sale on Saturday or against David Price on Sunday night. “It was just really good to see Birdie impact the ball. Happy for him and hopefully that’s something that can kind of jump-start him a little bit, because just what we believe he brings — that lefthanded, on-base, power guy in this ballpark and the middle of breaking up our righties. When he’s right, he’s a big deal for our offense.”
Bird had been dropped to seventh in the lineup after he’d failed to get untracked following a 47-game stint on the disabled list to open the season, due to his second ankle surgery in as many years.
A recent 1-for-17 skid had sunk his batting average to .191 with three homers and a .690 OPS entering Friday’s series opener, calling into question his status as an everyday starter. But Bird took Boston lefty starter Eduardo Rodriguez deep to the opposite field as the second half of back-to-back homers with Miguel Andujar in the fourth inning, then homered again in the eighth.