Yankees manager Joe Girardi homers during early batting practice drill

Yankees manager Girardi takes batting practice

TORONTO — New York Yankees manager Joe Girardi took some swings during a pregame drill Tuesday, hitting until he cleared the left-field fence at Rogers Centre.

After shagging fly balls with some Yankees players during early batting practice, Girardi took about 15 swings in the cage as part of hitting coach Kevin Long’s net drill. A screen is placed across the outer half of the plate, forcing batters to hit on the inside half of the plate and pull the ball.

Girardi, who hit 36 homers during his 15 major league seasons, said it had been four years since he last took batting practice.