Yanks have fun with Gardner bat shenanigans

Brett Gardner may not be able to bang his bat on the dugout roof anymore, but he and the Yankees are embracing that as a rallying cry. Aaron Judge mimicked the motion after his big ninthinning double Sunday and during the traditional Yankee Stadium roll call, Gardner acknowledged the bleacher fans by turning and mimicked the motion

of banging the bat, the act that had gotten him tossed from Saturday’s game.

“He’s one of the leaders of this team. We do a lot of crazy things in that dugout. We’re showing support for him. He’s a leader of this stuff, so we’re supporting him with that. You’ll be seeing a lot more of that,” Judge said when asked about it after the Yankees 8-4 loss to Cleveland at the Stadium.

Just like the “F***ing Savages,” line that Aaron Boone delivered in a rant against home plate umpire Brennan Miller last month that went viral and launched several different lines of TShirts — including one officially licensed by MLB, the bat banging is now a part of these 2019 Yankees.

“I know the fans out in right field we loving it with the roll call. I don’t know if you saw Gardy’s roll call. He gave ‘em a little dugout hit with the muscle up, so that was a good one,” Judge said.

BUILDING BETANCES

Reliever Dellin Betances threw a bullpen Sunday and will throw another on Tuesday, where “he’ll only have one day off this time. He’ll throw another bullpen Tuesday where he’ll get up and down, so he’ll essentially throw 15 pitches, sit down, and then throw another 10 or 15 pitches,” Boone said. “So he’s building up, and I would say he’s very close to facing hitters, too. I haven’t seen their exact schedules as far as what this week looks like, but I that’s the next step and I know they’re doing well.”

Betances has not pitched yet this season, dealing with shoulder issues and a lat strain.

MORE GOOD NEWS

Luke Voit was working out at Yankee Stadium on Sunday, but will head to Scranton on Monday to continue his rehab for a sports hernia.