Gardner digs deep in ninth

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 gamewinning 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.”

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.