NEW YORK -- There were plenty of times when the New York Yankees wondered when Greg Bird would play again.
This year? Next season? Ever?
"We weren't sure about him," manager Joe Girardi admitted.
Bird's time finally came Saturday, when he reached base three times in his long-awaited return to the lineup and helped the Yankees beat the Seattle Mariners 6-3.
Bird singled, walked twice and scored in his first game since May 1. The young first baseman has been hobbled by ankle and foot woes -- after his hit, the Yankee Stadium sound system played the theme song from `70s sitcom "Welcome Back, Kotter."
"It's fun to be back in the stadium," Bird said. "It's exciting to be part of it."
Said Girardi, after the win: "I think he can have a big impact."
Jacoby Ellsbury homered and drove in four runs and Sonny Gray kept up his streak of impressive starts in this matchup of playoff contenders.
The Yankees bounced back from an 11-inning loss in the opener of a season-long 10-game homestand. Seattle dropped to 5-3 on its 12-game, four-city trip that covers 7,500 miles.
"Not a lot going on today, obviously last night kind of an emotional win," Mariners manager Scott Servais said. "We just didn't get much going offensively and a lot had to do with Sonny Gray."
Bird was activated from the 60-day disabled list after a strong Triple-A rehab assignment.
The 24-year-old hit eight homers in spring training, tied for the most in the majors, but fouled a ball off his right ankle shortly before opening day. He then started off 6 for 60 with the Yankees and was put on the DL.
Bird had a bone removed from his right foot during his recovery.
"It's been a long interesting, unique journey," he said.
Bird got off to a strong start as a rookie in 2015, hitting 11 home runs in 46 games. But his path stalled when shoulder surgery caused him to miss the entire 2016 season.
This year, his big hitting in the Grapefruit League was wiped out by setbacks that threatened to turn his whole season into a big bust. Now, he's ready to break loose.
"I feel fresh," Bird said. "I haven't really played a whole lot."
Bird walked his first time up and tried to score from second on Ellsbury's RBI single. He was nailed at the plate, but said it was his slide left him out, not any physical problems.
"I was trying to slip my hand in. I figured that was my best shot. Replays kind of changed that a little bit, so I was trying to be sneaky."
Ellsbury hit a three-run homer and an RBI single. Relegated to a role of a fourth outfielder during an injury-slowed season, he connected off Yovani Gallardo (5-10).
Girardi praised Ellsbury's work ethic despite diminished time, saying, "It's not easy when you've been the player Jake's been."
Gray (8-8) went seven innings and allowed one run on three hits, including a homer by Carlos Ruiz. It was the 11th straight start Gray hasn't permitted more than two earned runs, the best string by anyone in the majors this year. Five of those games have come since he was traded from Oakland to the Yankees on July 31.
Gray struck out nine. In his previous outing, he threw five innings against Boston in his first career appearance without fanning anyone.
Starlin Castro hit a two-run single in the seventh for a 6-1 lead.
Kyle Seager and Guillermo Heredia had RBI singles in the Seattle eighth. Pinch-hitter Robinson Cano grounded out against Tommy Kahnle to end the inning.
Dellin Betances pitched the ninth for his 10th save.
DILL, NOT DULL
Gray pitched with "Pickles" on the back of his jersey. That was part of Players Weekend, where nicknames and colorful gear were encouraged by Major League Baseball to help attract younger fans.
Gray does like pickles, but the name came from his teammates in Oakland -- they noticed he often seemed to pitch on days when the A's wore their alternate green uniforms.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Mariners: Cano didn't start for the second straight game because of tightness in his left hamstring. He played second base after batting. "Robbie, I think, is getting better," Servais said. "We'll see if we can get him in tomorrow and go from there."
Yankees: With Bird at first, Chase Headley shifted from 1B back to start at 3B for the first time since the Yankees traded for Todd Frazier. Headley threw away one grounder.
UP NEXT
Mariners: LHP Andrew Albers (2-0, 3.60 ERA) makes his third start for Seattle. The 31-year-old was 12-3 in Triple-A when Atlanta traded him this month for cash.
Yankees: RHP Masahiro Tanaka (9-10, 4.86) is 0-6 with an 11.81 ERA in seven day starts this year and 9-4 with a 3.24 ERA in 17 games at night. He makes his 100th career start in the majors Sunday and is 48-26 so far.
---
More AP baseball coverage: https://apnews.com/tag/MLBbaseball
This year? Next season? Ever?
"We weren't sure about him," manager Joe Girardi admitted.
Bird's time finally came Saturday, when he reached base three times in his long-awaited return to the lineup and helped the Yankees beat the Seattle Mariners 6-3.
Bird singled, walked twice and scored in his first game since May 1. The young first baseman has been hobbled by ankle and foot woes -- after his hit, the Yankee Stadium sound system played the theme song from `70s sitcom "Welcome Back, Kotter."
"It's fun to be back in the stadium," Bird said. "It's exciting to be part of it."
Said Girardi, after the win: "I think he can have a big impact."
Jacoby Ellsbury homered and drove in four runs and Sonny Gray kept up his streak of impressive starts in this matchup of playoff contenders.
The Yankees bounced back from an 11-inning loss in the opener of a season-long 10-game homestand. Seattle dropped to 5-3 on its 12-game, four-city trip that covers 7,500 miles.
"Not a lot going on today, obviously last night kind of an emotional win," Mariners manager Scott Servais said. "We just didn't get much going offensively and a lot had to do with Sonny Gray."
Bird was activated from the 60-day disabled list after a strong Triple-A rehab assignment.
The 24-year-old hit eight homers in spring training, tied for the most in the majors, but fouled a ball off his right ankle shortly before opening day. He then started off 6 for 60 with the Yankees and was put on the DL.
Bird had a bone removed from his right foot during his recovery.
"It's been a long interesting, unique journey," he said.
Bird got off to a strong start as a rookie in 2015, hitting 11 home runs in 46 games. But his path stalled when shoulder surgery caused him to miss the entire 2016 season.
This year, his big hitting in the Grapefruit League was wiped out by setbacks that threatened to turn his whole season into a big bust. Now, he's ready to break loose.
"I feel fresh," Bird said. "I haven't really played a whole lot."
Bird walked his first time up and tried to score from second on Ellsbury's RBI single. He was nailed at the plate, but said it was his slide left him out, not any physical problems.
"I was trying to slip my hand in. I figured that was my best shot. Replays kind of changed that a little bit, so I was trying to be sneaky."
Ellsbury hit a three-run homer and an RBI single. Relegated to a role of a fourth outfielder during an injury-slowed season, he connected off Yovani Gallardo (5-10).
Girardi praised Ellsbury's work ethic despite diminished time, saying, "It's not easy when you've been the player Jake's been."
Gray (8-8) went seven innings and allowed one run on three hits, including a homer by Carlos Ruiz. It was the 11th straight start Gray hasn't permitted more than two earned runs, the best string by anyone in the majors this year. Five of those games have come since he was traded from Oakland to the Yankees on July 31.
Gray struck out nine. In his previous outing, he threw five innings against Boston in his first career appearance without fanning anyone.
Starlin Castro hit a two-run single in the seventh for a 6-1 lead.
Kyle Seager and Guillermo Heredia had RBI singles in the Seattle eighth. Pinch-hitter Robinson Cano grounded out against Tommy Kahnle to end the inning.
Dellin Betances pitched the ninth for his 10th save.
DILL, NOT DULL
Gray pitched with "Pickles" on the back of his jersey. That was part of Players Weekend, where nicknames and colorful gear were encouraged by Major League Baseball to help attract younger fans.
Gray does like pickles, but the name came from his teammates in Oakland -- they noticed he often seemed to pitch on days when the A's wore their alternate green uniforms.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Mariners: Cano didn't start for the second straight game because of tightness in his left hamstring. He played second base after batting. "Robbie, I think, is getting better," Servais said. "We'll see if we can get him in tomorrow and go from there."
Yankees: With Bird at first, Chase Headley shifted from 1B back to start at 3B for the first time since the Yankees traded for Todd Frazier. Headley threw away one grounder.
UP NEXT
Mariners: LHP Andrew Albers (2-0, 3.60 ERA) makes his third start for Seattle. The 31-year-old was 12-3 in Triple-A when Atlanta traded him this month for cash.
Yankees: RHP Masahiro Tanaka (9-10, 4.86) is 0-6 with an 11.81 ERA in seven day starts this year and 9-4 with a 3.24 ERA in 17 games at night. He makes his 100th career start in the majors Sunday and is 48-26 so far.
---
More AP baseball coverage: https://apnews.com/tag/MLBbaseball
1:05PM,EDT,August 26,2017
Yankee Stadium, New York,New York
Yankee Stadium, New York,New York
| View: Play-By-Play | Pitch-By-Pitch | Inning: All | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
| Seattle - Top of 1st | SCORE | |
|---|---|---|
| Sonny Gray pitching for New York | SEA | NYY |
| Segura flied out to center. | 0 | 0 |
| Alonso walked. | 0 | 0 |
| Alonso to second on wild pitch by Gray. | 0 | 0 |
| Cruz grounded out to third. | 0 | 0 |
| Seager struck out swinging. | 0 | 0 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| New York - Bottom of 1st | SCORE | |
| Yovani Gallardo pitching for Seattle | SEA | NYY |
| Gardner singled to center. | 0 | 0 |
| Gardner to second on wild pitch by Gallardo. | 0 | 0 |
| Judge flied out to center. | 0 | 0 |
| Sánchez struck out swinging. | 0 | 0 |
| Gregorius popped out to shortstop. | 0 | 0 |
| 0 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Seattle - Top of 2nd | SCORE | |
| Sonny Gray pitching for New York | SEA | NYY |
| Haniger grounded out to third. | 0 | 0 |
| Gamel fouled out to catcher. | 0 | 0 |
| Heredia flied out to left. | 0 | 0 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| New York - Bottom of 2nd | SCORE | |
| Yovani Gallardo pitching for Seattle | SEA | NYY |
| Castro walked. | 0 | 0 |
| Bird walked, Castro to second. | 0 | 0 |
| Headley sacrificed to third, Castro to third, Bird to second. | 0 | 0 |
| Ellsbury singled to left, Castro scored, Bird thrown out at home. | 0 | 1 |
| Romine flied out to center. | 0 | 1 |
| 1 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Seattle - Top of 3rd | SCORE | |
| Sonny Gray pitching for New York | SEA | NYY |
| Motter grounded out to third. | 0 | 1 |
| Ruiz homered to left (385 feet). | 1 | 1 |
| Segura struck out swinging. | 1 | 1 |
| Alonso struck out looking. | 1 | 1 |
| 1 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| New York - Bottom of 3rd | SCORE | |
| Yovani Gallardo pitching for Seattle | SEA | NYY |
| Gardner popped out to second. | 1 | 1 |
| Judge struck out swinging. | 1 | 1 |
| Sánchez grounded out to third. | 1 | 1 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Seattle - Top of 4th | SCORE | |
| Sonny Gray pitching for New York | SEA | NYY |
| Cruz walked. | 1 | 1 |
| Seager struck out swinging. | 1 | 1 |
| Haniger struck out swinging. | 1 | 1 |
| Gamel grounded out to pitcher. | 1 | 1 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| New York - Bottom of 4th | SCORE | |
| Yovani Gallardo pitching for Seattle | SEA | NYY |
| Gregorius popped out to shortstop. | 1 | 1 |
| Castro struck out swinging. | 1 | 1 |
| Bird singled to right center. | 1 | 1 |
| Headley walked, Bird to second. | 1 | 1 |
| Ellsbury homered to right (336 feet), Bird and Headley scored. | 1 | 4 |
| Romine struck out swinging. | 1 | 4 |
| 3 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Seattle - Top of 5th | SCORE | |
| Sonny Gray pitching for New York | SEA | NYY |
| Heredia grounded out to third. | 1 | 4 |
| Motter flied out to center. | 1 | 4 |
| Ruiz singled to right. | 1 | 4 |
| Segura struck out looking. | 1 | 4 |
| 0 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| New York - Bottom of 5th | SCORE | |
| Yovani Gallardo pitching for Seattle | SEA | NYY |
| Gardner walked. | 1 | 4 |
| Judge popped out to first. | 1 | 4 |
| Sánchez flied out to right. | 1 | 4 |
| Gregorius grounded out to first. | 1 | 4 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Seattle - Top of 6th | SCORE | |
| Sonny Gray pitching for New York | SEA | NYY |
| Alonso struck out looking. | 1 | 4 |
| Cruz hit by pitch. | 1 | 4 |
| Seager hit by pitch, Cruz to second. | 1 | 4 |
| Haniger struck out swinging. | 1 | 4 |
| Gamel flied out to center. | 1 | 4 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| New York - Bottom of 6th | SCORE | |
| Yovani Gallardo pitching for Seattle | SEA | NYY |
| Castro grounded out to third. | 1 | 4 |
| Bird grounded out to first. | 1 | 4 |
| Headley walked. | 1 | 4 |
| Lawrence relieved Gallardo. | 1 | 4 |
| Ellsbury grounded out to second. | 1 | 4 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Seattle - Top of 7th | SCORE | |
| Sonny Gray pitching for New York | SEA | NYY |
| Heredia lined out to right. | 1 | 4 |
| Motter reached on infield single to third. | 1 | 4 |
| Ruiz struck out swinging, Motter stole second. | 1 | 4 |
| Segura flied out to center. | 1 | 4 |
| 0 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| New York - Bottom of 7th | SCORE | |
| Casey Lawrence pitching for Seattle | SEA | NYY |
| Romine singled to left. | 1 | 4 |
| Gardner singled to center, Romine to second. | 1 | 4 |
| Judge struck out looking. | 1 | 4 |
| Sánchez popped out to shortstop. | 1 | 4 |
| Gregorius walked, Romine to third, Gardner to second. | 1 | 4 |
| Castro singled to shallow left, Romine and Gardner scored, Gregorius to second. | 1 | 6 |
| Bird walked, Gregorius to third, Castro to second. | 1 | 6 |
| Headley flied out to left. | 1 | 6 |
| 2 Runs, 3 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Seattle - Top of 8th | SCORE | |
| Chasen Shreve pitching for New York | SEA | NYY |
| Shreve relieved Gray. | 1 | 6 |
| Valencia hit for Alonso. | 1 | 6 |
| Valencia doubled to left. | 1 | 6 |
| Cruz safe at first on throwing error by third baseman Headley, Valencia to third. | 1 | 6 |
| Seager singled to right, Valencia scored, Cruz to second. | 2 | 6 |
| Kahnle relieved Shreve. | 2 | 6 |
| Haniger struck out swinging. | 2 | 6 |
| Gamel grounded into fielder's choice to shortstop, Seager out at second, Cruz to third. | 2 | 6 |
| Heredia singled to right, Cruz scored, Gamel to second. | 3 | 6 |
| Canó hit for Motter. | 3 | 6 |
| Canó grounded out to second. | 3 | 6 |
| 2 Runs, 3 Hits, 1 Errors | ||
| New York - Bottom of 8th | SCORE | |
| Casey Lawrence pitching for Seattle | SEA | NYY |
| Valencia at first base. | 3 | 6 |
| Canó at second base. | 3 | 6 |
| Ellsbury flied out to center. | 3 | 6 |
| Romine flied out to center. | 3 | 6 |
| Gardner singled to right. | 3 | 6 |
| Gardner stole second. | 3 | 6 |
| Judge struck out swinging. | 3 | 6 |
| 0 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Seattle - Top of 9th | SCORE | |
| Dellin Betances pitching for New York | SEA | NYY |
| T. Frazier at third base. | 3 | 6 |
| Betances relieved Kahnle. | 3 | 6 |
| Ruiz struck out looking. | 3 | 6 |
| Segura grounded out to third. | 3 | 6 |
| Valencia struck out looking. | 3 | 6 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Seattle Mariners | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hitters | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | #P | AVG | OBP | SLG |
| Segura SS | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 18 | .301 | .353 | .414 |
| Alonso 1B | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 13 | .270 | .368 | .516 |
a-Valencia PH-1B
| 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 10 | .264 | .313 | .419 |
| Cruz DH | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 18 | .289 | .373 | .556 |
| Seager 3B | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 14 | .257 | .326 | .445 |
| Haniger RF | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 15 | .246 | .344 | .417 |
| Gamel LF | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | .288 | .341 | .405 |
| Heredia CF | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 14 | .280 | .345 | .388 |
| Motter 2B | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | .205 | .269 | .353 |
b-Canó PH-2B
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | .276 | .335 | .458 |
| Ruiz C | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 16 | .213 | .301 | .333 |
| Totals | 34 | 3 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 12 | 149 | |||
| a-doubled to left for Y Alonso in the 8th b-grounded to second for T Motter in the 8th | ||||||||||
| BATTING 2B: Valencia (19, Shreve) HR: Ruiz (2, 3rd inning off Gray 0 on, 1 Out) RBI: Ruiz (10), Seager (68), Heredia (24) 2-out RBI: Heredia Mariners RISP: 2-11 (Gamel 0-2, Haniger 0-2, Heredia 1-1, Cruz 0-2, Canó 0-1, Segura 0-1, Seager 1-2) Team LOB: 8 | ||||||||||
| BASERUNNING SB: Motter (11, 2nd base off Gray/Romine) | ||||||||||
| FIELDING Outfield Assist: Gamel (Bird at Home). | ||||||||||
Game Information
| Stadium | Yankee Stadium, New York, NY |
| Attendance | 39,810 (80.2% full) - % is based on regular season capacity |
| Game Time | 3:25 |
| Weather | 75 degrees, sunny |
| Wind | 8 mph |
| Umpires | Home Plate - Bruce Dreckman, First Base - Tom Woodring, Second Base - Jordan Baker, Third Base - Mike Everitt |
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