Yankees: Brett Gardner earns Game 2 lineup spot after masterful opener

The Yankees Game 2 lineup is out for the MLB Playoffs, and Brett Gardner is back out there.

The Gardy Gang will, in fact, bang on once more for the New York Yankees on Wednesday night.

And no shade whatsoever to Clint Frazier, but it’s the correct call yet again. After all, why mess with what delivered you 12 runs on Tuesday night against the presumptive AL Cy Young in the opening salvo?

We gave Aaron Boone plenty of plaudits for the maneuvers he made prior to Game 1, and true to form, he chose not to mess with his innovations on Wednesday. Except for swapping in Gary Sanchez, who’s caught every one of Masahiro Tanaka’s dominant playoff starts from 2017 on, for Kyle Higashioka, the Yanks are running it back.

Yes, that means Gleyber “It’s Time” Torres gets to (hopefully) keep thriving in the No. 7 hole, where he went 4-for-4 with 3 RBI and a pivotal walk in Game 1. No need to move him up after one day, after all.

Unfortunately, Brett Gardner’s hot streak has come at the expense of Clint Frazier, who finished the regular season 1-for-20, but wrapped up the year hitting .310 with a pair of homers with RISP. He’ll be invaluable off the bench, at some point, though we’re not exactly sure when that time will come.

After the opener, though, it would’ve been difficult to justify the expulsion of Gardner from the batting order, after a 3-for-5 day which featured a dead-center home run the likes of which we’ve maybe never seen from the little bald man from Holly Hill, SC.

If the Yankees are going to advance to the next round and enter the bubble for real, they’ll have to defeat Carlos Carrasco, a more experienced vintage of Cleveland’s ridiculous magic pitching potion.

The better the pitching, the more helpful it is to have the pesky Gardner in your lineup, though. Especially if he’s locked in.

We questioned it on Tuesday, but by now, it’s become clear this is the only move.

3 players Yankees wish they still had on current roster

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