Wil Myers trap catch

Tampa Bay Rays right fielder Wil Myers (9) stretches for a hit by New York Yankees left fielder Brett Gardner (11) in the fourth inning at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Fla., Sunday, April 21, 2014. The Yankees beat the Rays, 5-1, in 12 innings. (Will Vragovic/Tampa Bay Times/MCT)

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Brett Gardner's argument was simple.

He believed the Yankees shouldn't have gotten the short end of the stick after umpires watched Rays outfielder Wil Myers try to pull a fast one on them.

Gardner hit a long fly to right field in the fourth inning of the Yankees' 5-1 win over the Rays. Myers drifted back toward the Tropicana Field wall, leaped and then jogged off the field with the ball in his glove.

Myers fooled umpires into thinking he caught it. Really, Myers trapped it in his glove after it hit a mini fence above the wall.

Yankees manager Joe Girardi challenged the call and got it reversed. Gardner would be safe at second, and Alfonso Soriano would score, making it 1-0 Yankees.

But, Gardner said, Myers benefitted by faking it. Gardner continued to run the bases, and actually crossed the plate, after Myers jogged off the field during his ruse.

"Basically, you're penalizing me for keeping going and you're rewarding him for acting like he caught it when he knew he didn't catch it," Gardner said. "That's what I was confused about and I don't think anything like this has happened before so I don't' think they could give me an answer."

Gardner kept running, he said, because he wasn't sure whether Myers caught the ball, and coaches and teammates told him to keep going.

Gardner said he asked second base umpire Joe West for an explanation as to why he had to go back to second. The outfielder said West told him that after looking at the overhead camera, it appeared that Gardner would have only made it to second if umpires had made the right call.

Gardner said that while he was happy replay was able to turn reverse the out call, he thought they should have considered letting him score.

"I didn't argue with him," Gardner said, referring to West, "but my argument wasn't second or third (base), it should have been second or home. I just thought it was kind of a weird play but I guess you get used to it."