Brett Gardner’s bulletin-board material motivated Red Sox to sweep Yankees

The Boston Red Sox used New York Yankees outfielder Brett Gardner’s comments as bulletin-board material to complete a rare road sweep in The Bronx.

While Brett Gardner may have said his comments about Boston Red Sox skipper Alex Cora half-jokingly that did not stop his New York Yankees getting swept at home by their hated division rival.

“Having him in the dugout obviously makes me want to beat them,” said Gardner prior to this past weekend’s series. “We don’t like those guys; they don’t like us. It will be interesting for them to come to town.”

Boston has massively overachieved this season, as the Red Sox are 36-23 through their first 59 games with Cora back in the dugout. Conversely, the Yankees have floundered this season, as New York sits 6.5 games back of the first-place Tampa Bay Rays at 31-29 and in fourth place. They have dropped eight of their last 10 games. Gardner poked the bear, and the bear clearly won here.

New York is searching for answers, as the Yankees do not want to lose any more ground this year.

New York Yankees: Brett Gardner’s comments fueled Boston Red Sox sweep

Look. There is always going to be a black mark associated with Cora or anyone who was a member of the 2017 Houston Astros. Eventually, the animus will die down league-wide, but we should not expect it to in the first season with fans back in the stands since the American public became aware of the infamous sign-stealing scandal. Cora and others paid a steep price for their roles.

However, Boston won the 2018 World Series in Cora’s first year as their manager. While last season was a disaster for the Red Sox, they have bounced back marvelously this year. Though catching defending AL champion Tampa Bay will be tricky, Boston seems to have what it takes to getting into the postseason as a Wild Card team. As for New York, this team could miss October.

If the Yankees are not soul-searching after this home sweep, their season may be too far gone.