Gray’s Bronx woes continue

It’s never Sonny in the Bronx.

Struggling Yankees’ right-hander Sonny Gray made his second appearance out of the bullpen Sunday and left after allowing two runs on five hits in the seventh inning.

Elvis Andrus and Adrian Beltre opened the eighth with a double and single to quickly put Gray in a bind. Gray has now allowed 45 earned runs in 50 innings pitched at Yankee Stadium this season for a 7.92 ERA.

“I think that’s part of what you take into consideration,” the Yankee manager said of pitching Gray at home. “I think any time, every day is so different. Between the score of the game, the opponent, the matchups, who you are trying to stay away from in the bullpen. You don’t always have that luxury. His number may very well come up again on this homestand. Hopefully he can go out there and replicate the guy we saw the last time out.”

Gray had pitched to a 5.56 ERA as a starter when Boone had to demote him to the bullpen. In his first relief appearance, Gray pitched three scoreless innings in Chicago.

Gray does not buy into the idea that there is more pressure on him at Yankee Stadium.

“There is no pressure. I came into a 7-0 game... so I would say there was no pressure,” Gray said.

He admitted it’s “different” to come out of the bullpen and he is adjusting.

“Never know when you are going to pitch, just constantly trying to figure out a routine,” Gray said. “That’s probably the biggest thing, but I was fine today.”

So where does this leave Gray? In the same role, according to Boone, as basically an unreliable long man.

“In a similar role. Coming off a huge outing in Chicago, picking us up big time and getting that win for us. Today was a little more of a struggle,” Boone said. “We got to turn the page from it too. He’s got to be that guy who we’ll go to in a long situation, or if we need innings on a given day. He’s still going to fill that roll, still needs to be ready to fill a number of different roles. In that role they come in different shapes and sizes.”

STANTON STABLE

Giancarlo Stanton could play in the outfield if the Yankees were in a bind, Boone said Sunday. The slugger, who hit his 30th home run of the season Sunday and has homered in five of his last six games, is nursing a tight left hamstring and Boone has been keeping him in the designated hitter role to try and protect the leg.

“It’s kind of day by day. I kind of feel like we could almost use him now. I am kind of playing it real conservatively,” Boone said. “Obviously he is not someone we can afford to lose or want to lose. He’s trying to be as smart as we can while riding him, hard. He’s a guy who hasn’t had a day, trying to keep him fresh through this DH spot. It’s just something we’re trying to stay on top of, before, during and after each day and trying to make the best decision about when and if we get him back out there on defense.”

Neil Walker made his second career start in right field Sunday. His first was Saturday.

INJURY UPDATES

Outfield prospect Clint Frazier is making slow progress from his post-concussion migraine syndrome, Boone said. Frazier is in Tampa and still feeling some of the symptoms, but he has hit and thrown indoors.

“He is doing better,” Boone said. “He hit in a cage and threw yesterday. Hoping that at some point he gets back outside and we started ramping up the baseball activity. Still with some symptoms in and out each day, but seems like it is trending in the right direction.”

Right hander Jonathan Loaisiga, on the minor league disabled list with shoulder inflammation since July 7, made his first appearance Saturday throwing 1.2 scoreless innings for the Yankees’ Gulf Coast affiliate.