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.
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