BOSTON — Brett Gardner isn’t a big hugger. Yet, like all of the Yankees this season, he has grown accustomed to the enveloping embrace of Cameron Maybin after a trip around the bases.

So after Gardner smashed a solo blast on Friday against the Boston Red Sox, he expected Maybin to pull him in for a hug in the dugout. But Maybin, who was worried his hugs-for-homers tradition had become a bit much, went in for a high five instead.

“He said, ‘Bring it back. I want a hug,’” Maybin recalled, adding, “Everybody else is still coming up to me, giving me hugs, so I guess we’ll keep going.”

Maybin, 32, is one of the fill-in players who helped power the Yankees (95-51) through an injury-filled season that has particularly decimated the outfield, with stars like Aaron Hicks, Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron Judge missing significant time. Maybin figures to remain a key player, especially after a season-ending calf injury to outfielder Mike Tauchman over the weekend and a lingering elbow injury that has jeopardized Hicks’s availability.