NEW YORK -- Nearly one-third of the Yankees’ schedule has been played against the Rays, their well-balanced American League East rival gaining the upper hand in most of their 10 matchups. Should the teams meet again this year, it will take place in the postseason, where they will be banking on a much different outcome.
One evening after the intensity level surged with a wild Aroldis Chapman fastball that prompted a trio of suspensions, Jordan Montgomery headed for a first-inning shower. The Yankees absorbed a 5-2 defeat on Wednesday night at Yankee Stadium, completing their season series with eight losses in 10 games against Tampa Bay.
“I'm very disappointed,” Brett Gardner said. “I’m not happy about it; I don't think anybody in that room is. They've obviously played really well against us. They've had our number, and to this point, we haven't really been able to figure them out. So the hope is we'll see those guys again in October.”
Ten men came to the plate in the first inning, nine against Montgomery, who endured the shortest start of his career. The left-hander permitted hits to the first five men he faced, including two-run homers to Randy Arozarena and Mike Brosseau.
“I hung a couple pitches or put it there in good hitter counts,” Montgomery said. “They made some good swings.”
Brosseau was at the center of Tuesday’s theatrics, when Chapman’s 101 mph fastball whizzed past the hitter’s helmet. Some extracurricular commentary prompted both benches and bullpens to clear following the final out of that game, leading to suspensions for Chapman, Yankees manager Aaron Boone and Rays manager Kevin Cash.
This time, Brosseau was the one sending baseballs over everyone’s heads; the infielder celebrated the second multi-homer game of his career, launching a blast off Montgomery that prompted loud cheers from the visitors’ dugout and bullpen. Brosseau added a solo shot in the fourth inning off right-hander Jonathan Holder.
“I really made our bullpen go through it,” Montgomery said. “They threw great, they picked me up. I just put us in too much of a hole. But I'll get back to work tomorrow and be ready to get the ball again in five days.”
‘Pen pals
Other than Brosseau’s second homer, the Yanks’ relievers performed yeoman work in silencing the Rays following Montgomery’s early exit, combining for 8 1/3 innings and allowing only three hits. Right-handers Nick Nelson and Luis Cessa combined for 14 outs, though Cessa had to spend more time on the mound than anticipated.
The fifth inning was supposed to belong to Ben Heller, but the right-hander was ejected after plunking Hunter Renfroe in the left hip with a 94.5 mph fastball. On high alert because of Tuesday’s events, the umpires gathered on the infield and decided to eject Heller, who immediately pleaded his case to the crew. So did bench coach Carlos Mendoza, serving as the Yanks’ acting manager.
“We’re not trying to hit anybody, especially in that situation,” Mendoza said. “When your starter comes out of the game in the first inning, we had to go to Heller or one of our younger guys from our bullpen. After three pitches, the last thing you want is to hit somebody. We were looking for length out of him. There's no way we're trying to hit people there.”
Bats all
On a night that featured a bizarre five-minute delay when two drones hovered overhead in the bottom of the first inning, the Yanks were held hitless until Gio Urshela’s double in the fourth. Clint Frazier supplied most of the offensive excitement for New York, breaking up the shutout by kissing the left-field foul pole for a solo home run in the sixth.
New York brought the potential tying run to home plate in the ninth, following DJ LeMahieu’s RBI single off Pete Fairbanks. Luke Voit grounded out with two men on, sealing the Yanks’ second home series loss in their last three after a stretch of 27 consecutive winning home series dating to April last year.
“Our goal is always to win the division,” Gardner said. “I know that we're obviously not in a good position right now, but we've got some baseball left. If we want to get where we want to be at the end of the season, we just have to play better. It's just as simple as that.”