Yankees Brett Gardner, Rays Rickie Weeks Jr. caught in brutal collision at first base

With the infield in and runners on the corners in the sixth inning, Brett Gardner hit a tapper back to the mound.

Rays reliever Xavier Cedeno turned to fire at second base for a double play, forgetting the defensive scheme, but had no one to receive the throw, so he rushed his throw toward first instead.

The throw was off, dragging Rickie Weeks Jr. across the path of the runner Brett Gardner, resulting in a nasty collision.

For his part, it does not appear that Gardner was aware that Weeks had crossed his path, as his eyes were clearly on the other side of the field.

Weeks is not a natural first baseman, but learned the position in Spring Training. His defense has been more than adequate, but his instincts are not developed to the point that he did would avoid leaning over the path of Gardner on a poor throw.

Just look where the baseball ended on the play after bouncing in the dirt.

And here’s another angle.

Instead of looking the runner back to third, Cedeno’s rushed throw to first, after turning to the unmanned second, resulted in the “runner” being safe and allowed the Yankees to score on the play, contributing to a 4-run inning.

Gardner (neck) and Weeks (shoulder) would both leave the game.