NEW YORK -- Brett Gardner, welcome back.
Hours after New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone stood up for his struggling 34-year-old leadoff man, saying he wasn’t entertaining the possibility of moving Gardner down in the batting order, the veteran went out and had his best game of the season Wednesday night.
In sparking a 9-6 win over the rival Boston Red Sox that gave the Yankees sole possession of first place in the AL East, Gardner was New York’s extra-base hero.
Although his doubles in the first and third innings led to a couple of early runs, it was his triple in the eighth that keyed yet another Yankees comeback by bringing home the tying and go-ahead runs.