• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Rookie Gardner helps Yankees salvage split with Red Sox

Jul 7, 2008 - 5:56 AM By Larry Fleisher PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

BRONX, New York (Ticker) -- On Friday, rookie Brett Gardner had a good look at Jonathan Papelbon's pitches. That led Joe Girardi having a good feeling when the rookie left fielder faced Papelbon again Sunday, even if the New York Yankees manager wasn't around to see it in person.

Gardner delivered a walk-off single with two outs in the bottom of the 10th inning off Papelbon as the Yankees rallied for a dramatic 5-4 victory over the Boston Red Sox at Yankee Stadium.

New York gained a split of the four-game series and won its second straight one-run contest. It did so by getting another effective at-bat from Gardner, who made his major league debut Monday against Texas.

Gardner came into the at-bat with a .100 batting average but had produced several lengthy at-bats, including Friday's eight-pitch encounter with Papelbon (3-3) that produced a ninth-inning walk.

"I had a good feeling," Girardi said. "I think Papelbon - up until that point - had walked five guys all year, possibly in approximately 35 or 36 innings. He saw a lot of pitches, fouled a lot of pitches off and it's what he's been doing the whole time that he's been here."

This time, Gardner came up with the opportunity to drive in Robinson Cano from second. Cano led off the 10th with a single and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Melky Cabrera.

After pinch hitter Wilson Betemit struck out, Gardner quickly fell behind 0-2 but fouled off two more pitches to stay alive. He evened the count and fouled off another pitch before capping his second eight-pitch at-bat against Papelbon with a slow roller up the middle that deflected off shortstop Alex Cora's glove and scored Cano.

"I've been trying to buy a hit for six or seven games now and I just tried to grind that at-bat out and get some good pitches to hit," Gardner said. "(Papelbon) actually threw me some fastballs over the plate that I should have hit and I just fouled them off.

"He threw me a couple of tough pitches I was able to get a bat on and the last one was a (split-fingered fastball) and I didn't really see it go out of his hands, but I was just able to stay through it enough and execute it up the middle."

Despite his low batting average, Gardner has already earned a place in his manager's heart with his competitive spirit.

"Papelbon gets ahead of him; he (Gardner) fouls a couple of tough pitches off - a couple of balls that are up in the zone and tough to foul out (at 96-97 miles per hour with movement) - and that's what Brett Gardner does," Girardi said. "He's just going to fight you and fight you."

Gardner's hit gave the Yankees their 21st comeback win of the season and moments after becoming the first Yankee to record a walk-off hit in his sixth game or earlier since Alfonso Soriano in 1999, he was mobbed by

his teammates.

"It was like everything happened in three or four seconds," Gardner said. "But it was definitely a great experience and something I'll never forget."

Mariano Rivera (3-3) earned the win with two scoreless innings but, unlike Saturday, he did not create near as much anxiety for the home crowd. In Saturday's 2-1 win, the Yankees closer loaded the bases with no outs but was able to escape with his 23rd save, Rivera allowed a leadoff single to Sean Casey in the ninth on Sunday.

After Coco Crisp moved pinch runner Brandon Moss to second with a sacrifice bunt, pinch hitter Jason Varitek grounded out to Rivera for the second out of the inning, moving Moss 90 feet away from scoring the go-ahead run.

However, Rivera was able to strand Moss when he fanned pinch hitter Manny Ramirez on three straight fastballs and then retired the side in order in the 10th, giving the Yankees a chance for the win.

"The first inning he didn't throw many pitches and then he gives us another inning which was great," Girardi said. "It's unusual for us to see what Mo (Rivera) did for us yesterday but Mo found a way to do it both nights."

Girardi watched all of the late-inning drama unfold from the clubhouse after getting ejected for the second time this season. This time, his issue was with plate umpire Laz Diaz's strike zone, which resulted in his ejection with one out in the sixth when he argued a close pitch on Gardner.

At the time, New York faced a 3-1 deficit and Alex Rodriguez's 536th home run that tied Mickey Mantle for 13th place on the all-time list was its lone hit in 16 at-bats off Tim Wakefield.

The Yankees began their rally immediately after Girardi was tossed and made it a one-run game when Gardner scored on Derek Jeter's single. Jeter was doubled off second and made a throwing error in the top of the seventh that eventually led to Boston's fourth run.

However, New York finally tied the game at 4-4 in the seventh off reliever Javier Lopez, who surrendered a two-run triple to Cano that scored Rodriguez and Jorge Posada.

The Red Sox did little off Yankees starter Joba Chamberlain, who allowed three runs on four hits over six innings. They scored three runs off the hard-throwing righthander in the fifth as Kevin Youkilis scored on a wild pitch and Pedroia lined a two-run single.

Gardner's hit also capped a frustrating 3-7 road trip for the Red Sox, who entered this series with a five-game losing streak that knocked them out of first place in the American League East.

"It probably sounds like a broken record at this point, but every time it seems like you're turning a corner and starting to get better on the road, something happens," Boston manager Terry Francona said.