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 the game-winning run on a two-out single an inning later for a feel-good 2-1, 10-inning victory.