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Subbing for Gardner with 0-2 count, rookie helps Yanks hold on

NEW YORK -- Colin Curtis had a seat on the Yankees' bench and was savoring a cup of cold Gatorade when Brett Gardner furiously charged down the dugout steps, having just been ejected by home-plate umpire Paul Emmel in the seventh inning of the Yankees' 10-6 win over the Angels on Wednesday.

Gardner left an 0-2 count on the scoreboard, and Curtis instinctively reached for his batting gloves, hoping he'd be called upon to finish the at-bat. Curtis did more than that, slugging his first Major League home run to put a memorable exclamation point on the Yankees' victory.

"It's a lot of excitement," Curtis said. "You hit it and you see it go out, and it's the first one of your career in a big situation. I was real excited just running around and trying to hold back a big smile."

Gardner had looked at a second strike from Angels reliever Scot Shields and said something to Emmel, who tossed the left fielder immediately. Curtis said he'd never pinch-hit in a similar situation and didn't know how much time he was allowed to get ready, so he just took a couple of practice cuts and stepped in.

Curtis looked at three fastballs outside the strike zone to work the count full before Shields came at him with a 90-mph fastball, which the 25-year-old rookie belted into the right-field seats for a three-run homer.

"It's a no-lose situation for him, right?" said Yankees captain Derek Jeter, who couldn't help laughing in the on-deck circle. "If he gets out, they put it on Gardy, so you can just try to hit a home run.

"He had a great at-bat; Shields is tough, and from 0-2 he worked the count to 3-2 and hit a home run. I think everyone was happy for him. It's his first home run, it'll be a memorable one and it was a big hit for us."

The homer will be a meaningful keepsake for Curtis, who was diagnosed with testicular cancer as a high-school freshman in 1999 and considers each day a blessing, speaking to high schools about the disease in the offseasons and counseling teammates from time to time.

"I definitely think it's part of my identity," Curtis said. "I've been cancer-free for 10 years now, so it doesn't really affect me in my day-to-day life. But I definitely think it's important, being a survivor, to carry on the message."

Curtis became the first Yankee to hit his first Major League homer as a pinch-hitter since Andy Phillips on Sept. 26, 2004, at Fenway Park, and he said he wasn't swinging for the fences -- Curtis was only trying to get Curtis Granderson in from third base.

But when Angels right fielder Juan Rivera turned around in the outfield and began giving chase, Curtis had an idea the ball might get out and watched it all the way -- his 28th professional homer since being selected by the Yankees in the fourth round of the 2006 First-Year Player Draft.

"It's difficult based on the fact that I've only seen what [Shields] is throwing from the side," Curtis said. "I haven't really listened to a scouting report yet, and 0-2, I don't know if his first pitch is going to be a backdoor slider or a fastball away. You've just got to look for a pitch that you can hit."

As Curtis came down the steps of the Yankees' dugout between innings, Gardner looked up from the batting cages and said, tongue-in-cheek, "You're welcome."

"It was exciting," Gardner said. "I couldn't go back out to the dugout to congratulate him, so I had to wait until he came inside. Obviously, I was excited for him, and it worked out perfectly."

While the baseball was retrieved for Curtis, later resting safely inside a glove on the top shelf of his Yankee Stadium locker, a crush of teammates shoved him toward the top step to acknowledge the cries of a steamy matinee crowd of 47,521.

"I don't think he knew how to do it," Nick Swisher said. "I was like, 'Man, they're cheering, bro. Where is he?'"

With some trepidation, Curtis made it up the steps and said that doffing his cap to the crowd was "the thrill of a lifetime."

"You see the Yankee history and guys taking curtain calls and, to get an opportunity to do that, it's amazing," Curtis said.

And there was one icon in particular that Curtis might have been thinking about. Curtis' father, Jed, was born in Fargo, N.D., the same hometown of Yankees great Roger Maris, which is why Curtis requested to wear uniform No. 9 in the Minor Leagues last season.

"He was a big Maris fan growing up," Curtis said of his father. "I just kind of hopped on board."

That digit is obviously unavailable at the big league level, securely displayed in Monument Park, so Curtis wears No. 27 -- adding up to the No. 9 that Maris was wearing when he was shoved to the dugout steps, waving his cap after belting his 61st home run in 1961.

"I've seen that one," Curtis said. "I think I was a little more willing. ... You get a lot of thrills in your life. I don't think I'll ever forget this moment."

Bryan Hoch is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.