STARE MASTERS
Gray deal will come down to which exec — if either — blinks by today’s 4 p.m. deadline
Yankees GM Brian Cashman and Billy Beane, his A’s counterpart, had wrapped up most of their talking on a trade for Oakland ace Sonny Gray and were playing a waiting game as of early Monday morning. The Bombers, though, did make a deal for rotation help, getting Jaime Garcia from the Twins.
Jordan Montgomery getting knocked out in the third inning a day after Caleb Smith didn’t last the fourth showed why Yankees general manager Brian Cashman upgraded the rotation and still was looking for more.
But it’s not why the Yankees saw their six-game winning streak snapped in a 5-3 loss to the Rays on Sunday in The Bronx.
Sure, the four runs surrendered by Montgomery in just 2 ²/₃ innings — the shortest outing of his brief MLB career — didn’t help and exemplified why the Yankees traded for Minnesota’s Jaime Garcia and were talking to Oakland about Sonny Gray.
Still, even with Montgomery’s command issues, the Yankees cut the deficit to one with a run in the fourth.
Despite seven walks and a batter hit by pitch, the Yankees couldn’t scratch another run across to complete a four-game sweep of the Rays. But because Boston lost to the Royals, the Yankees stayed in first place in the AL East by a half-game.
“We didn’t take advantage of our free base runners,” Joe Girardi said. “We had some golden opportunities in the f i ft h and sixth and did not score. That was the difference in the game.”
The bullpen, which allowed the Yankees to come back Saturday, was masterful again, giving up just one run in 6 ¹/₃ innings.
Luis Cessa, much better in a relief role than as a starter, tossed 3 ¹/₃ scoreless to save an already-taxed pen. Cessa was optioned to Triple-A Scranton/ Wilkes-Barre after the game.
In the bottom of the ninth, the Yankees seemed poised for a third walk-off victory in four games against the reeling Rays.
Unlike Thursday and Saturday, though, when Brett Gardner delivered game-winning hits in the final inning, the Yankees came up short.
Gardner’s single with one out in the ninth gave the Yankees some hope, especially when Clint Frazier followed with a walk, but Aaron Judge and Matt Holliday — both in slumps — were unable to deliver with the tying runs on base.
Asked about his attitude heading to the plate in that situation, Judge didn’t mince words: “I’m gonna win t his game. That’s my plan. That’s my approach.”
Instead, he hit a foul pop-up to first for the second out, and Holliday followed by grounding out to third to end it.
Holliday went 0-for-5 with two strikeouts and is 9-for-66 with a homer, a double and four RBIs since he returned from a viral infection July 14.
“It’s frustrating to have an opportunity with some runners on base and we weren’t able to get the job done,” said Holliday, who had two singles in Saturday’s win. “I felt like we had a chance to win that game a cou- ple different times.”
As for his own funk, Holliday said: “I’m not really looking at it as more than today, and today, I had some opportunities and didn’t quite get it done.”
He had company, as the Yankees went 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position and hitters Nos. 3-7 in the lineup went hitless in 18 at-bats with seven strikeouts.
The only source of production was Ronald Torreyes, who hit a two-run homer off righthander Jacob Faria in the second and added an RBI double in the fourth.
An inning later, Gardner and Frazier opened with a pair of walks and advanced on a wild pitch but were stranded when Judge, Holliday and Didi Gregorius were retired.
In the sixth, they loaded the bases with one out, still trailing by only a run, but Gardner and Frazier couldn’t tie the game.
Chad Green, who struck out six in 2 ¹/₃ innings, allowed a run in the eighth, leaving Judge and Holliday to try to follow in Gardner’s footsteps in the ninth.
“No matter how he’s swinging, that’s the guy you want up in that situation,” Girardi said of Judge. “Because he can change it really quickly.”
On Sunday, like the rest of his teammates, Judge couldn’t.