Brett Gardner missed almost all of last season with a right elbow injury and bounced back to become one of the best and most durable Yankees in 2013.
That may have ended Thursday night, when Gardner left the Yankees’ 6-5 win over the Orioles in the first inning with a strained left oblique suffered during a check swing in his lone at-bat, when he struck out.
He is scheduled to get an MRI exam in New York Friday before meeting the team in Boston and acknowledged the injury could sideline him for much — if not all — of the rest of the season.
“I know we don’t have much time left,” Gardner said. “We’re trying to fight and get in the playoffs. I haven’t looked too far ahead into that, but I guess it could be a possibility. Hopefully we get good news [Friday].”
Good news, though, has been hard to come by in The Bronx this season.
“We’re fighting for a playoff spot and have two, two-and-a-half weeks left,” Gardner said. “I know how important these games are.”
With an injury like an oblique strain, there isn’t much a player can do.
“From a baseball standpoint, it might be the most difficult thing to deal with because of the force it takes to swing a bat,” said Vernon Wells, who has suffered the injury before. “You can only withstand so much and it can start off as a small thing, but if you push it and tear it, then you’re in trouble. Unfortunately, we’re in a period when we need him.”
On Thursday, the Yankees turned to Curtis Granderson to take Gardner’s spot in center.
Joe Girardi also admitted the injury could keep Gardner out for an extended period of time.
“We’ll keep our fingers crossed,” Girardi said.
The Yankees can hardly afford to lose their leadoff hitter and best defensive outfielder in the final weeks of the season as they try to overtake the Rays for the final wild-card spot.
They have no shortage of outfielders, with Granderson, Ichiro Suzuki and Wells competing for time alongside Gardner and Alfonso Soriano.
None is likely to match the overall output of Gardner, who supplanted Granderson as the regular center fielder this year.
Gardner leads the Yankees with 33 doubles, 10 triples and 24 stolen bases. He has played in more games and had more plate appearances than any Yankee other than Robinson Cano.
Although his strikeout total ballooned this season to 128, Gardner has rebounded from an injury-plagued 2012, when he was limited to 16 regular-season games because of a right elbow injury. He returned for the playoffs, but was ineffective — in part due to the extended layoff.
“It’s frustrating, especially with as good as I’ve felt all year,” Gardner said.