Yankees' Gardner To Have MRI On Strained Oblique
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- The Yankees don't need this right now: leadoff man Brett Gardner is heading to New York for tests on his ailing oblique.
On Thursday night, the Yankees (79-68) moved within one game of their high-water mark for the season, 12 games over .500, which last occurred in May. But the 6-5 victory in Baltimore was marred by another injury, this one to Gardner, who left in the first inning with a strained muscle on his left side.
"I've never had an oblique issue before," Gardner said. "The best thing to do is just wait until (Friday) and see what the MRI says. That'll paint a much clearer picture."
Gardner said it was "frustrating" to suffer an injury with the Yankees fighting for a playoff spot. New York is one game behind AL East rival Tampa Bay for the second wild card spot.
"It felt serious enough for me to say something and come out of the game, so you take what you want from that," he said. "I don't think anything's broken, obviously, but it's just one of those things where I've never had an issue before.
"I know something's not right. I felt like if I went out there, it was just going to get worse and I was going to hurt the team, because I wasn't anywhere close to 100 percent."
Curtis Granderson replaced Gardner in center field. The Yankees recently lost shortstop Derek Jeter for the remainder of the season after another setback to his ankle. Catcher Austin Romine (concussion) and starting pitcher Ivan Nova (elbow) are also ailing.
"It's not what we want right now," said manager Joe Girardi. "We'll keep our fingers crossed that it's not much."
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