ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — If ever the Yankees were in need of a good start, it was Sunday, with the offense inept and their lead in the AL East slipping away.
Frankie Montas delivered, tossing five shutout innings in the Yankees’ 2-1 win over the Rays, in his best start since arriving in a trade from the A’s in July.
The right-hander, who had a 7.01 ERA in his first five starts as a Yankees, was much better on Sunday.
“I wouldn’t say [I felt] pressure,’’ Montas said. “I wanted to keep the team in the game.”
While he was excellent, Montas wasn’t especially efficient.
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Despite giving up just one hit — and no walks — he needed 93 pitches to get through his outing before being replaced by Lou Trivino, who tossed a scoreless sixth.
Trivino, Ron Marinaccio and Jonathan Loaisiga backed up Montas with three scoreless innings before Clay Holmes allowed a run in the bottom of the ninth before picking up the save.
Aaron Boone was ejected for arguing a catcher’s interference call on Kyle Higashioka in the bottom of the fifth, with the Yankees up, 1-0.
Boone and the Yankees were already frustrated by a call in the top of the inning, when DJ LeMahieu popped out and the Yankees thought the ball hit the screen behind the plate before Christian Bethancourt caught it.
The Yankees ended up challenging the play, which was confirmed, so they couldn’t ask for a review when Taylor Walls was awarded first base on catcher’s interference.
An exasperated Boone argued with home plate umpire Vic Carapazza and as he headed back to the dugout, was tossed for the seventh time this season.
Boone defended Josh Donaldson, who had a heated reaction when he was nearly hit by a pitch up and in during the second inning. Benches cleared briefly and both teams were warned, but there were no other issues. The Rays visit the Yankees for another series in The Bronx on Friday.
“It gets your attention,’’ Boone said of getting a pitch thrown near your head. “It was the heat of the moment.”
Isiah Kiner-Falefa’s woes at shortstop aren’t going away, as he booted another routine grounder for an error in the first and nearly threw a ball away on another easy play in the third, but was saved by a leaping grab by LeMahieu at first.
He made two good plays on the run later in the game, further evidence that he struggles more on routine plays than on more difficult chances.
Anthony Rizzo remained back in New York following the epidural he got this past week.
Boone said still hoped to have Rizzo go through baseball activities on Monday with a potential return to the lineup on Wednesday.
Boone said again the team isn’t considering an injured list stint for Rizzo, who has missed games due to lower-back issues three times in the past two months.
“He felt good [Saturday],’’ Boone said. “They were being really careful the first couple days after he had to fly across the country.”
Nestor Cortes is slated to rejoin the rotation Thursday against Minnesota in The Bronx after coming off the 15-day IL due to a groin strain.
Scott Effross still has some hurdles to clear before he can rejoin the bullpen. Boone said the right-hander, on the IL with a shoulder strain, has started a throwing program with a target date of Friday for his first bullpen session since the injury.
Zack Britton reported no problems on Sunday following his rehab appearance on Saturday for Low-A Tampa.