Gardner confident in Yanks amid adversity

ANAHEIM -- Brett Gardner could fill a book with what he has experienced over his 14 years wearing a Yankees uniform, and perhaps one day he will. To the longest-tenured player in the organization, 2021 has presented a roller-coaster ride unlike any before it.

“I don't know that I've seen a season of such extremes, the way that our team has played over the course of the last five months,” Gardner said. “Almost every day, something comes up that I think to myself, ‘Man, I’ve never seen that before.’ So you’ve just got to roll with the punches.”

The Yankees followed a 13-game winning streak by dropping four consecutive contests to the A's and Angels entering Wednesday’s series finale in Anaheim. Gardner said the stretch was particularly rough because the Yanks felt they had opportunities to win each of the four games.

“It’s been taxing, it’s been frustrating, but that's what this game does,” Gardner said. “It will beat you up if you let it. I think we've got a good, resilient group that is able to handle adversity really well, and we'll see how we play this last month.”

Yankees manager Aaron Boone said on Wednesday that he senses some players in the clubhouse are “a little ticked off that we haven’t continued to roll.”

“But I also feel like, personnel-wise, where we are as a team in our preparation -- I feel like we’re in a good spot to go have a really good month right now,” Boone said. “That really hasn’t changed.”

Gardner said that the Yankees are looking forward to returning home. After Wednesday, they are scheduled to play 17 of their next 20 games within New York’s city limits, including a three-game series against the Mets at Citi Field from Sept. 10-12.

“As well as we’ve played here these last few weeks, it has been a tough stretch,” Gardner said. “It'll be nice to go back home and play in front of our home fans. We'll be looking forward to that.”

Going for the gold
For the sixth consecutive year, MLB and its clubs raised awareness for childhood cancer in a special league-wide “Childhood Cancer Awareness Day," held in collaboration with Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C). All on-field personnel, including players, managers, coaches, and umpires, wore gold-ribbon decals and wristbands during Wednesday’s games.

Bombers bits
• The Yankees recalled outfielder Estevan Florial and right-hander Brooks Kriske from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Wednesday as rosters expanded from 26 players to 28. Both were traveling with the club on its taxi squad.

• Gleyber Torres remains on track to be activated on Friday, when the Yankees open a weekend series against the Orioles. Torres is scheduled to play in a Minor League rehab game for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Thursday.

• Right-hander Luis Gil could return to the big leagues to start a game during the Yanks' span of 20 games without an off-day, Boone said. Gil is currently at Triple-A.

This date in Yankees history
Sept. 1, 1961: Three consecutive two-out ninth-inning singles by Elston Howard‚ Yogi Berra and Bill Skowron gave the Yanks a 1-0 win over the Tigers at Yankee Stadium. Whitey Ford, Bud Daley and Luis Arroyo combined for the shutout.