Gardner steps up with two homers as Yankees
TORONTO — The plan was not for Brett Gardner to be the face of the 2019 Yankees. The Bombers declined to exercise the option on his contract last winter, but brought him back at a reduced rate, thinking he could be a solid fourth outfielder, an insurance policy against injuries and a veteran voice in the clubhouse.
But in a season where almost every one of their sluggers has been injured, the 36year-old Gardner has had a huge impact on and off the field for the Yankees. Saturday, Gardner drove in five runs, hit two homers and played a solid center field as the Bombers hit five homers and bounced back to beat the Blue Jays 13-3 at the Rogers Centre.
“He is killing it,” said James Paxton, who was the beneficiary of Gardner’s grab of Danny Jansen’s fly ball at the wall in the fifth. “He’s been great for
us all year long in the outfield and at the plate. Really doing it all. That’s not even talking about his leadership skills and how great he is in the clubhouse.”
The win dropped the Yankees’ magic number to clinch the American League East to four, meaning any combination of four Yankees wins and Rays losses gives them their first division title since 2012. The earliest they could clinch is Tuesday back in the Bronx.
The Yankees (98-52) were coming off their second walkoff loss of the week on Friday, and responded with a solid start from James Paxton Saturday afternoon. Gleyber Torres hit his team-leading 37th homer of the season and Luke Voit and Mike Ford got in on the homer action as well.
The Yankees have hit 20 home runs in their last six games. They now lead the majors with 285 homers, having passed the Twins (280) earlier this week.
The Yankees remained ahead of the Dodgers and Astros in the race for the best record in baseball. That would give the Yankees and manager Aaron Boone not only homefield advantage in the playoffs, but also an extra few days off before the start of the American League Division Series to try and get guys rested and healthy.
“I’m not worried about the lineup part of it, because if we’re able to win the division we’re going to have that break in-between. I’m more worried about making sure guys are getting the proper amount of work hopefully while also putting us in a position to win games and putting us into a good position heading into October,” Boone said.
Gardner and Paxton will be key cogs in those preparation plans.
While not as dominating as he has been at times during this streak, Paxton picked up his career-high ninth straight