The Yankees still have plans for Francisco Cervelli, but right now the catcher is hitting just .162 with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, so Chris Stewart likely will keep backing up Russell Martin for a while longer.
Stewart made his first real impact on his new team with two hits and a career-high three RBIs in the Yankees’ 8-3 victory over the Twins Tuesday night in The Bronx in what Brett Gardner called “a must-win” game.
BOX SCORE
Stewart, who came in a trade from the Giants on the eve of the regular season this month, singled in two runs to give the Yankees the lead in their four-run fourth and sent Twins’ starter Francisco Liriano packing.
“I told him that ball he hit to left field that knocked Liriano out of the game was the biggest hit we’ve had all year,” Gardner said.
It was certainly the biggest for the 30-year-old Stewart, who was making just his second start of the season and hadn’t had any before last night.
“For me, I’ve always said it’s never about the hitting,” said Stewart, who knocked in Gardner in the seventh for the Yankees’ final run of the night. “But when it does come, it’s awesome. And for it to come in Yankee Stadium, wearing the Pinstripes, it’s a night I’m not going to forget.”
After grounding out weakly to third with two runners in scoring position in the second inning — and calling it “one of the worst at-bats I’ve ever had —” Stewart had a pair of run-scoring hits later in the game.
It also had Stewart thinking about sticking around in The Bronx. He played just one game during his first stint with the Yankees in 2008, so he already is doing more with his second chance.
“I’d like to stay a little longer this time,” Stewart said. “I’m looking to stay the whole season and go into the playoffs with this team and then do some damage there.”
That may be optimistic, considering he had 42 career hits before last night and Cervelli isn’t going to stay cold forever. Cervelli had his best game of the season last night for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, going 3-for-5 after getting off to a horrendous start in the minors following his unexpected demotion at the end of spring training.
For now, the job is Stewart’s.
“I’m always ready to go,” Stewart said. “Russ is obviously our guy and we’ll ride him as long as we can, but I’ll give him a spell whenever I can. As long as we get wins [I] couldn’t care less how much I play.”
dan.martin@nypost.com
Chris Stewart, Francisco Cervelli, Francisco Liriano, Brett Gardner ebook download, The Yankees, Russell Martin, Cervelli
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