Aaron Judge blast not enough as Yankees stumble against Rays

At least for a few minutes on Sunday afternoon, Aaron Judge woke up Yankee Stadium.

His 35th home run of the season, a three-run shot in the seventh inning, briefly gave the crowd of 45,178 something to cheer about after a day filled with frustration and a dash of apathy.

But it was only a temporary reprieve.

The Yankees offered another tease in the ninth inning, when they got Judge to the plate as the potential tying run, but the comeback ended there as they stumbled through a second straight loss to the Rays, 6-4.

The Yankees (59-42) spent the first four innings Sunday trying to see how many runners they could put on base without scoring. They loaded the bases in each of the first two innings and did not score, then stranded two more runners in scoring position in the fourth.

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Judge finally cashed in for a 444-foot homer in the seventh that trimmed the Rays’ lead to 5-3, with Austin Wells following with a single. But Gleyber Torres, whose fielding error led to an unearned run earlier in the game, grounded into an inning-ending double play.

In the ninth, Juan Soto doubled home Ben Rice with one out to bring up Judge as the potential tying run. But Pete Fairbanks got him to fly out to center before Austin Wells struck out looking to end the game.

The Rays (50-49) held the Yankees to 2-for-10 with runners in scoring position as they stranded nine runners.

Aaron Boone was spared from watching the final three innings from the dugout after he was tossed by home plate umpire Edwin Jimenez before the top of the seventh. Alex Verdugo had struck out looking at a pitch below the zone for the first out of the bottom of the sixth inning, which Boone was still barking about after the frame, leading to his fifth ejection of the season.

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Marcus Stroman turned in a solid outing, giving up three runs (two earned) across five innings. He gave up a pair of solo home runs to Richie Palacios (to lead off the game) and Randy Arozarena (in the fourth inning), though he did not walk a batter for the first time this season.

Rays right-hander Shane Baz tried to give the Yankees some help during his 3 ¹/₃ ineffective innings, though he somehow left without allowing a run.

In each of the first two innings, the Yankees loaded the bases with one out, only to come up empty. In the first inning, Torres flew out to left field, too shallow to try scoring Soto from third and then the scuffling Verdugo lined out to first base.

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In the second, Soto worked a 3-0 count, got the green light and swung at a fastball at the top of the zone that turned into a 3-6-1 double play to end the inning.

Baz led off the fourth by walking Anthony Volpe and Trent Grisham, who then took second and third on a double steal with one out. But lefty reliever Garrett Cleavinger stranded them there by striking out Rice and getting Soto to fly out to center.

Judge’s three-run blast in the bottom of the seventh might have tied the game if not for Jake Cousins getting into trouble in the top of the frame. Cousins, who had been sharp of late, walked Ben Rortvedt on four pitches and then was taken deep by Jose Siri, who enjoyed a slow trot around the bases after making it 5-0 Rays.

Luke Weaver then gave up a solo shot to Jose Caballero in the ninth inning that put the Rays up 6-3.

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