With slam, Gardner breaks game wide open

On 6-RBI night, Yanks OF's blast provides plenty of insurance

July 1st, 2017

HOUSTON -- said that he "wasn't sure what to expect" when the bleary-eyed Yankees shuffled into the visiting clubhouse at Minute Maid Park on Friday afternoon, trying to shake off some low-quality sleep and the sight of rookie 's gruesome knee injury the previous night in Chicago.
It was a much more preferable sight when Gardner launched his third career grand slam, a towering seventh-inning drive to right field that blew open an eventual 13-4 victory over the Astros. As Gardner crossed home plate, he emphatically slammed forearms with , and Chris Carter, and laughed.
Grand slams mean 40% off pizza
"I'm too small to hurt somebody, man," said Gardner, whose slam gave the visitors a 10-3 lead. "If I don't, those guys might hurt me. It was a big swing of the bat and a big four runs. It really opened up the game and we pulled away. I knew everybody would be tired, but it turned out to be a great game."
The blast off reliever was Gardner's 15th homer of the year and his first slam since May 12, 2014, off former Mets righty . It came as part of a six-RBI performance that tied his career high and also equaled for the most RBIs in a game by a Yankee this year.

Nine of the Yankees' 13 runs were scored with two outs, including Gardner's slam, which came off his bat at 104.9 mph and traveled a Statcast-calculated 399 feet.
"You just never give at-bats away. You keep grinding out at-bats," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "Guys put a ton of good at-bats and then you get the huge blow from Gardy, the grand slam on 3-2. It looked like a split to me, against a strikeout pitcher. Really good."
Hoyt fell behind Gardner 2-0 before getting him to swing and miss at an 82.5-mph slider. Ball three ran low out of the zone and Gardner whacked two pitches foul before Hoyt placed an 82.3-mph slider over the plate.

Gardner said that he wasn't thinking about hitting a slam in that situation.
"I'm just looking to drive a ball and get a base hit," Gardner said. "We got to 3-2, he threw me a slider and I fouled it off. He threw me another one and left it up and I took a good swing at it. It was just a patient at-bat and I was able to see some pitches; saw a couple of fastballs, saw several breaking balls. He threw me a good pitch to hit and I didn't miss it."