The New York Yankees were swept by the Toronto Blue Jays over the weekend after scoring one run over the course of three games, which further narrowed the MLB playoff race. If that wasn't enough of a headache for outfielder Brett Gardner, he perhaps got the thump he needed to put him over the edge.
In the fourth inning of Sunday's game Blue Jays' slugger Jose Bautista blasted a solo home run off Masahiro Tanaka to put Toronto up 2-0. The ball landed in the left field seats at Yankee Stadium and although that area was littered with Blue Jays fans, one disgruntled Yankee supporter happened to come up with the ball.
As tradition suggests for the home crowd, that ball is thrown back onto the field. However, the manner in which that action transpired was not favorable for Gardner, who was standing in left field.
The All-Star was struck in the head by the ball thrown by the fan, as you can see below via the Vine video:
"It's unfortunate it hit me where it did, but it is what it is," Gardner told ESPN's Mike Mazzeo. "I got a hard head, so it's all good."
Gardner said he was fine and remained in the game after suffering only a minor bump on the back of his head.
If the fan did apologize to Gardner, who deserved once since he has been tremendous for the Yankees this season, the outfielder did not hear it.
"I think they were probably saying I suck, I think. I'm not sure," Gardner humorously added. "I try to block them out most of the time. The home run [Jose] hit was so far -- I don't know how far the ball got thrown back in, but it wasn't like it was coming in from the second row. So whoever hit me I probably couldn't have heard them if they tried to say anything anyway. It is what it is."
You can check out Bautista's home run below, too:
First baseman Mark Teixeira also had a run-in with a fan when attempting to make a catch in foul territory. Teixeira was not happy, as you can see:
The Blue Jays are now within 1.5 games of the Yankees for the lead in the American League East. New York has lost four of their last five while Toronto has won eight straight to take the lead in the AL wild-card race, which could soon be where the Yankees end up if they can't get back to their scoring ways.
