ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) - About the only thing Gary Sanchez was quick to do Monday night was accept the blame for his lack of effort.
Sanchez failed to hustle on a pair of key plays, Jake Bauers hit a three-run homer and scored with some nifty baserunning, and the Tampa Bay Rays beat Luis Severino and the New York Yankees 7-6.
“You learn a lot in this game,” Sanchez said through a translator. “This is one of those instances where you learn from it. You put it behind and look forward to tomorrow.”
The Yankees loaded the bases against Jose Alvarado with one out in the ninth when Brett Gardner singled, Aaron Judge walked and Giancarlo Stanton was intentionally walked. After Aaron Hicks hit into a force out at the plate, Alvarado got his first save when Sanchez grounded out, a play where Hicks beat the play at second but the Yankees catcher was thrown out at first after jogging most of the way there.
“I should have run harder,” Sanchez said.
Hicks limped off the field after his slide. He was OK after the game.
Tampa Bay took a 1-0 lead in the first when Bauers had a two-out double and aggressively scored from second on Sanchez’s 10th passed ball. Sanchez and Severino got their signs crossed up, leading to the passed ball. Sanchez slowly chased the ball as it bounced away in foul territory, giving Bauers time to score.
“That’s another instance there, if I would have done a better job being quicker, getting that ball, maybe we have a chance to get him out at home,” Sanchez said. “That’s my fault.”
Yankees manager Aaron Boone plans to watch video of the plays before talking with Sanchez.
“We always address stuff with our players,” Boone said.
Bauers made it 4-1 on his sixth homer in the fifth.
Severino (14-3) allowed a season-high seven runs and 11 hits in five-plus innings. The 24-year-old righty struck out eight to reach 504 for his career, joining Al Downing (644) and Lefty Gomez (511) as the only Yankees’ pitchers to reach 500 strikeouts with the club before turning 25.
“I think the story of the game is we scored seven runs on a Luis Severino start,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said.
New York has gone 13-13 over its last 26 games, a stretch that started when Tampa Bay had a three-game sweep over the Yankees June 22-24. The Yankees fell six games back of AL East Boston, their biggest deficit (6 1/2 games) since April 21.
Daniel Robertson, who had a pinch-hit walk-off grand slam in Sunday’s 6-4 win over Miami, got his third hit with a solo homer in a three-run sixth that extended Tampa Bay’s advantage to 7-3.
New York pulled within 4-3 in the sixth when Stanton crossed the plate on Jesus Sucre’s passed ball and an RBI single by Sanchez.
Stanton had a two-run single in a three-run seventh that cut the Yankees’ deficit to 7-6. He went 4 for 4, and has 15 hits in last 31 at-bats.
In his previous game at Tropicana Field June 24, Stanton had five hits in five at-bats.
In the ninth, Didi Gregorius sacrifice bunted with Gardner and Judge aboard, setting up Stanton’s intentional walk. Boone said he was concerned about the lefty-lefty matchup with Gregorius facing Alvarado, even knowing the bunt would likely take the bat from Stanton’s hands in a key spot.
No one was warming up in the Tampa Bay bullpen because closer Sergio Romo was unavailable due to a stomach virus.
The Yankees tied it at 1 during the second when Stanton hit a towering fly that center fielder Kevin Kiermaier appeared to lose in the ceiling and went for a double. Stanton scored on Miguel Andujar’s single.
Matt Andriese (3-4), the second of seven pitchers in the Rays’ bullpen day, allowed two unearned runs in 3 2/3 innings.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Yankees: 2B Gleyber Torres (right hip strain) made two errors over nine defensive innings, and had two hits in four at-bats during his second game with Class A Tampa. He is expected back Wednesday. … OF Clint Frazier had an MRI which helped determine he has postconcussion migraines. … INF Ronald Torreyes joined Class A Tampa after tending to a personal matter. He left Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre June 25th.
Rays: Kiermaier (right foot bone bruise) missed the previous two games.
UP NEXT
Rays LHP Blake Snell (12-5) was placed on the 10-day DL and will miss his scheduled start Tuesday. RHP Yonny Chirinos will be recalled from Triple-A Durham to fill in.
RHP Masahiro Tanaka (7-2) will start for the Yankees.
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