Brett Gardner activated by Yankees
NEW YORK(AP) —Brett Gardner(notes) was activated by the New York Yankees after 1 1/2 months on the disabled list because of a broken left thumb and immediately had a big impact.
Gardner played center field in the opener of Monday’s day-night doubleheader sweep against Tampa Bay, and sprinted to make a sliding catch of Fernando Perez’s(notes) drive to right-center in the fifth inning, saving a run.
“It’s a different game if that ball falls.” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said.
Gardner was injured July 25 while sliding into second base against Oakland. He went 0 for 3 in the Yankees’ 4-1 win Monday afternoon and is batting .271 with three homers, 20 RBIs and 20 steals. He has six triples in 200 at-bats.
New York also recalled outfielder Shelley Duncan(notes) from Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Duncan, the International League MVP, had 30 homers and 99 RBIs at Scranton this season.
He got the call about 11 a.m. and made the 2 1/2-hour drive to Yankee Stadium, arriving around the sixth inning of the opener.
“A lot of traffic,” he said. “The Delaware Water Gap is pretty clogged up.”
A fan favorite, he received a big ovation when he pinch hit in the seventh inning of the second game, an 11-1 Yankees’ win. He grounded out in his first big league game since June 5, 2008, then went to right field.
