Far from best, rookie still game By DAN MARTIN

PITTSBURGH — Jo rd a n Montgomery, Jo e Gi ra rd i and Chase Headley all agreed on one thing after Sunday’s 2-1 loss to the Pirates: Montgomery, who was making his third start in the majors, was not at his best.

And still, the 24-year-old made it through six innings and allowed just two runs. With a little help from the offense, Montgomery easily could have picked up the win.

Even though that didn’t happen, the Yankees remain encouraged by the performance of the left-handed rookie after he exceeded most expectations this spring by making the rotation.

“If you can go six innings, [give up] two runs with nothing, obviously I deserve to be here,” Montgomery said after allowing seven hits and two walks, while striking out f ive in a 92-pitch outing. “I want to be better and pitch with my strengths and win, [but] it happens. It’s not the first time and it won’t be last time. I’ve got to battle.”

The battle began early, as Montgomery loaded the bases with no one out in the f irst and allowed just one run to score.

He pitched around a one-out triple by ex-Yankee Chris Stewart in the second and stranded another runner on third an inning later after surrendering the final run of his outing.

“You look at his first three innings, he really only had his curveball,” Girardi said. “He didn’t throw a good changeup until the end of the fourth inning and then kind of got going. I thought he did a really good job minimizing damage.”

Montgomery allowed just three base runners in hi s l ast three innings and erased them all on double plays to keep the Yankees within striking distance.

“You never expect to have everything, but I didn’t really have much going today at all,” Montgomery said.

“He didn’t look to me like he did in his other starts or in spring,” Headley said. “That’s important, to be able to pitch and keep us in the game when you don’t have your best stuff.”

The Yankees would no doubt sign up for more performances like Sunday’s from Montgomery.

“For a young pitcher not to have all his stuff and minimize the damage says something about him,’’ Girardi said. “We want him to keep stepping forward and I thought he took another one today.”

“It’s still technically a quality start,’’ Montgomery said. “Obviously, I’m not happy about it, with how off everything felt. I’ll go back to work [Tuesday] and be better in five days.’’