Gardner lifts Yankees over Royals in 13th inning

Baseball Betting Lines

08/16/2008 - Bronx, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brett Gardner singled home Robinson Cano with two outs in the bottom of the 13th inning to give the New York Yankees a much- needed 3-2 victory over the Kansas City Royals.

Cano singled with one out off Jeff Fulchino (0-1) and took second on a slow grounder to third by Ivan Rodriguez. Gardner fouled off the first two pitches he saw, then ran the count full before slapping a base hit through the left side of the infield to score Cano with the winning run.

Gardner, who also had a 10th-inning walkoff hit against Boston on July 6, finished 3-for-5 in his second game since being recalled from the minors to take the place of demoted center fielder Melky Cabrera.

The Yankees, coming off a 4-3 loss in Friday's series-opener, won for just the second time in their last eight games.

David Robertson (3-0), the last of seven Yankee pitchers, earned the win with two innings of hitless ball. The New York bullpen combined for 6 2/3 innings of one-hit relief after starter Sidney Ponson yielded two runs on seven hits with a pair of walks and two strikeouts over 6 1/3 innings.

Kansas City starter Zack Greinke was charged with a pair of unearned runs on six hits in 6 2/3 innings. He walked two and struck out five. Alex Gordon homered for the Royals, who have lost eight of their last 10.

The Royals led 2-0 heading to the bottom of the seventh behind a stellar effort from Greinke, but a pair of errors and a wild pitch helped the Yankees tie it.

Alex Rodriguez reached second when Gordon misplayed a ball at third and threw it away to start the inning. Jason Giambi drew a walk and Greinke looked as if he would escape unscathed when Xavier Nady bounced into a double play, but Cano drilled a ball off the right field wall for a run-scoring triple and raced home with the tying run on a wild pitch.

An error by shortstop Tony Pena Jr. prolonged the inning and Gardner singled, chasing Greinke from the contest. Ramon Ramirez came on and fanned Johnny Damon for the third out.

Jose Veras pitched around a leadoff walk in the top of the eighth and the Yankees wasted another opportunity in the bottom of the inning. Bobby Abreu singled with one out before Alex Rodriguez and pinch hitter Wilson Betemit drew walks to load the bases. Robinson Tejeda took over for Ramirez and struck out Nady before getting Cano on a fly ball to center.

The Yankees put their first two batters on base on the bottom of the ninth when Tejeda hit Ivan Rodriguez with a pitch and walked Gardner to start the inning. Damon, curiously, was not asked to bunt and struck out before Derek Jeter bounced into an inning-ending double play.

New York also left two aboard in the 12th. Jeter singled with one out against Joel Peralta and Abreu drew a walk. Alex Rodriguez beat the relay on a potential double play grounder to put runners on the corners and took second on defensive indifference, but Peralta fanned Betemit to end the inning.

The Yankees, despite the victory, stranded 13 runners.

Kansas City grabbed a 1-0 lead in the second when Gordon lifted a Ponson pitch down the left field line for an opposite-field homer, his 14th of the season.

Greinke retired the first nine Yankees he faced, but ran into trouble in the fourth as Damon, Jeter and Abreu each singled to load the bases with no outs. He battled back, though, and caught Alex Rodriguez looking at a third strike before inducing a 4-6-3 double play grounder off the bat of Giambi to keep the Royals in front.

Kansas City threatened in the fifth. Esteban German was hit by a pitch to start the inning and raced to third with one out on a hit-and-run single by Mitch Maier. Ponson then got David DeJesus to pop up on the infield and struck out Mike Aviles.

Ponson wasn't as fortunate in the sixth, as he loaded the bases with a pair of one-out walks following a leadoff double. German then hit a fly ball down the right field line, deep enough to score a run for a 2-0 lead.

The Royals came right back in the seventh and again loaded the bases with one out, but Brian Bruney got Jose Guillen to line into a double play to keep it a two-run game.

Game Notes

Kansas City still leads the season series, 5-4. The Royals haven't won a season series against the Yankees since taking five of nine in 1999...The Yankees will send 15-game winner Mike Mussina to the mound for Sunday's finale, while the Royals will counter with Brian Bannister...Saturday marked 60 years since the passing of the legendary Babe Ruth.