Brett Gardner hits 15,000th HR in Yankees history

During the fifth inning of today’s game against the Toronto Blue Jays, Brett Gardner made New York Yankees club history when he slugged the 15,000th home run for the franchise. The HR came off of starter Drew Hutchison on a 3-2 fastball. The Yankees are the first organization to reach this milestone and Gardner, owner of 39 career home runs entering today, is an unexpected source of the achievement.

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Today also marks the return of Masihiro Tanaka (12-4, 2.51 ERA), who has spent a good portion of the season on the disabled list with a partially torn UCL. Before his stint on the DL, Tanaka was looking every bit the part of AL Rookie of the Year, as well as a Cy Young Award candidate.  The Yankees currently lead the Blue Jays 2-1, and are looking to bounce back from a 6-3 defeat last night at the hands of their divisional rivals up North. Entering play today, the Yankees trail the Kansas City Royals by 4.5 games in the American League wild card race.

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