Bader has 3 hits as he heads back to St. Louis
OAKLAND, Calif. — Harrison Bader is going back to St. Louis on a high note.
For the first time since the Cardinals traded him to the Yankees for Jordan Montgomery last summer, Bader will return to Busch Stadium on Friday. He will do so on the heels of a three-hit game in Thursday’s 10-4 win over the Athletics, his third multi-hit effort in his last four games.
“I’m very excited,” Bader said after going 3-for-4 with a double, walk, RBI and two runs scored. “There’s a lot of history for me individu- ally, but at the same time, we have games to win. A really good team over there. I’m just looking forward to the level of competition.
“I’m going to do my best to keep my emotions in check at all times, as I always do. I’m sure I’ll see some familiar faces on the field that I’m not used to being in a different uniform [than]. It’ll definitely be strange, but I’ll get over it quickly. That’s what professionals do. You go out there and just dive into the competition and see how it shakes out for us.”
Upon returning from his second IL stint of the season earlier this month — this one for a strained hamstring — Bader took some time to find his rhythm, going 2-for-16 over his first five games back.
But in four games since, he was 7-for-17 with four doubles, giving the Yankees an important spark offensively in addition to his premium defense in center field.
“Just getting back into the swing of things,” manager Aaron Boone said. “Good atbats, using the entire field today.”
Anthony Rizzo
left the game in the bottom of the sixth after getting hit by a pitch on his left elbow in the top of the inning. X-rays were negative, but it remained to be seen whether it could cost him any games against the Cardinals this weekend.
“It kind of swelled up on him,” Boone said. “We’ll see if he’s good enough to go [Friday]. It’s probably a day-to-day thing.”
Clarke Schmidt had the challenge of facing a ticked-off Athletics lineup on Thursday, a day after Domingo German threw a perfect game against them. The drama only lasted one batter as Tony Kemp led off the bottom of the first with a single.
“I told [German] after I came out, ‘It’s tough to follow up, regardless of how I did today,’ ” Schmidt said. “But he’s so fun to be around. He’s a great teammate and I couldn’t be happier for a person like that.”