Offense empty for Monty
CHICAGO — The only thing that can stop the Yankees’ offense right now, apparently, is Jordan Montgomery.
For two straight nights against the White Sox, all the Yankees did was hit.
They hung 25 runs on the White Sox in the first two games of this series Thursday and Friday, combining for eight homers.
But when Montgomery left in the bottom of the fifth of a 3-2 loss Saturday night at Guaranteed Rate Field, the Yankees had been unable to get on the board, and they didn’t score until the eighth inning.
Montgomery has received just 16 runs of support in seven outings this season. The Yankees are 2-5 in his starts and 22-4 in their other games.
Manager Aaron Boone, asked how he has wrapped his head around Montgomery’s bad luck, said: “I don’t. We’ll score. We’ll score.”
Montgomery was more focused on his lack of command, which led to a season-high three walks in 4 ¹/3 innings.
“I really didn’t have much [stuff] to work with,’’ Montgomery said. “My timing was different every inning and I never really got comfortable . ... When you fall behind, you only make your life harder.”
➤ In his previous two starts at shortstop, Isiah Kiner-Falefa had made three errors — as well as another miscue that was ruled a hit — but committed no errors Saturday.
Boone said he isn’t worried about Kiner-Falefa’s defense.
“He’s so dynamic and athletic out there, he’ll get through this,’’
Boone said prior to the game. “The plays he didn’t make [Friday] night, he’s got to make those.”
Kiner-Falefa made a key baserunning blunder Saturday when he was made the second out of the ninth inning trying to advance to third on Kyle Higashioka’s sacrifice fly that had tied the score at 2-2.
➤ For just the second time this month, the Yankees were held without a homer. The Yankees entered Saturday leading MLB with 48 homers — in part because they hit 11 homers in their previous four games.
The surge has been led by Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton, who have 12 and 10 home runs respectively.
“When they’re playing like this and we’re getting contributions from the rest of the lineup, that’s when we’re at our best,’’ Boone said. “It’s good to see them getting consistent at-bats and doing damage when they get a pitch to handle.”
Along with Anthony Rizzo’s nine homers, the Yankees had three of the top home run hitters in the majors.
“We’ll take that,’’ Boone said of the stat. ➤ The first run Gerrit Cole allowed Friday came on a balk, when he turned to throw to first and there was no one covering the bag.
Boone blamed it on “not quality enough communication.”
“It’s something we addressed and it shouldn’t happen,’’ Boone said. “We need to make sure we’re airtight.”