COMPLETE MESS
Yanks fall in deeper hole behind Red Sox Ces homers in return, but may need surgery
A staggering Mets team that is heading toward a selloff, with a hobbled Yoenis Cespedes, would seem to the perfect opponent for the Yankees, who find themselves looking up at the Red Sox in the AL East.
But on Friday night, the Yankees squandered countless chances and couldn’t come back against the Mets, who were without Jeurys Familia, their closer who is expected to be traded as soon as Saturday.
They got the tying run to the plate in the bottom of the ninth against Robert Gsellman, but Brett Gardner grounded out to seal a 7-5 Mets win in The Bronx to open the second half.
Coupled with Boston’s win over the Tigers, the Yankees now find themselves 5½ games back in the division. It’s their largest deficit since April 22, when they called up Gleyber Torres and began to shoot up the standings.
“We’ve got to take care of business,’’ Aaron Boone said. “We’ve got to get rolling. I can’t look at the scoreboard and will it the other way, unfortunately. This is about us right now and this is about us getting on a good streak. That starts [Saturday].”
If it does, it will be up to Sonny Gray to do it, and he has been dreadful at Yankee Stadium.
Gray follows Domingo German, who disappointed again on Friday, giving up three runs in the first and getting knocked out in the fourth. He was optioned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre after the game and will be replaced in the rotation by Luis Cessa.
The Yankees went with German to give Luis Severino and CC Sabathia more rest around the All- Star break.
Noah Syndergaard, in his second start since returning from a strained ligament in his right index finger, gave up one run over five innings.
Facing a 6-1 hole in the sixth, the Yankees got a two-run double from Neil Walker off Seth Lugo.
They left the bases loaded in the seventh when Lugo got Miguel Andujar to fly to right.
Then, with Mickey Callaway instructed to not pitch Familia because of a possible trade, the manager went to Gsellman for two innings.
The Mets nearly paid for the decision, as Gardner reached on an error by shortstop Amed Rosario, who was brutal all game in the field.
Aaron Judge singled up the middle and a Didi Gregorius double drove in Gardner. Giancarlo Stanton’s groundout scored Judge and the Yankees were within a run.
With the tying run on third, Gsellman fell behind Hicks 2-0 before walking him intentionally to bring up Sanchez, playing his first game since coming off the disabled list with a strained groin that cost him 20 games.
For a second straight inning, Sanchez struck out, leaving two runners on.
“We never came through with the big blow,’’ Gardner said. “We had a lot of missed opportunities.”
As for the fact they trail the Red Sox by more than they have in nearly three months, Gardner said: “I’m not concerned about the number of games until we’re back more games than days we’ve got left. We’ve just got to play better baseball.”
The Mets wouldn’t mind such problems.
Cespedes, who homered in the third inning to make it 4-0 in his first game back after being out with a strained hip flexor, announced afterward he would need surgery to fix his heels and the procedure could cost him 8-to-10 months.
Still, the Mets will take the rare win.
“It’s a good start,’’ said Michael Conforto, who drove in three. “I think everyone was fresh and ready to go, ready to get after it in the second half, and it was cool to jump right into it with the Subway Series. It was a good day today.”