New York's Robinson Cano, center, celebrates with teammates Alex Rodriguez, top, and Bobby Abreu after scoring the game-winning run. The Yankees beat the Kansas City Royals, 3-2 in 13 innings, Saturday in New York.

New York ? Brett Gardner didn’t feel any pressure stepping to the plate in the 13th inning, the game tied and fans restlessly booing each failure by Alex Rodriguez and the rest of the Yankees’ high-powered hitters.

Why should he? The way the bullpen was going, it seemed as if New York was going to win eventually.

“I got behind 0-2 in a period of 15 seconds, and I was like, ‘Oh no, not this again,'” Gardner said. “I was fortunate to get a pitch to hit.”

Gardner singled through the left side of the infield with two outs, driving in Robinson Cano and giving New York a much-needed 3-2 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Saturday.

The Yankees won for just the second time in eight games, clinging to their playoff hopes. They began the day 101â2 games behind the Tampa Bay Rays in the AL East and seven back of the Boston Red Sox for the wild card, with time running out to avoid missing the postseason for the first time since 1993.

“I don’t care who ended it, we needed to win this game,” Derek Jeter said. “It would have been a rough one for us to lose. We had so many opportunities. At this point, it doesn’t make a difference how it looks. We need to get wins.”

Cano singled with one out in the 13th off Jeff Fulchino (0-1), just the third hit allowed by Royals relievers. Ivan Rodriguez moved up Cano with a groundout, and Gardner slapped a single past third baseman Alex Gordon. The throw from left fielder David DeJesus to the plate was wide, and Cano scored easily.

Gardner had a career-high three hits, a day after rejoining the Yankees when Melky Cabrera was sent to Triple-A.