Yankees come back from 3-0 deficit with four homers, beat Cleveland

CLEVELAND — For the second straight night, neither the Yankees nor their starting pitcher distinguished themselves in the first inning.

For the second straight night, it mattered not.

This time it was Jordan Montgomery suffering through a brutal first inning and not getting much defensive assistance, only to recover to turn in a strong performance. It was an inning similar to the one Domingo German went through Thursday before finding himself.

On Friday night, the Yankees’ bats also stirred for a second game in a row, with Giancarlo Stanton hitting two laser shots and Aaron Hicks and Rougned Odor also going deep in a 5-3 victory over Cleveland in front of 8,662 at Progressive Field.

The Yankees (8-11), who were averaging only 2.57 runs per game in their previous seven contests coming into this series, followed their 11-hit effort Thursday with just six hits Friday.

However, they included a long homer by Odor, whose two-run shot tied it at 3 in the second, and a 118-mph missile — the second-hardest-hit ball of the season, according to Statcast — off the bat of Stanton to start the third that put the Yankees ahead for good at 4-3. Stanton nearly impaled a courageous but foolish fan in the leftfield stands who survived trying to barehand the bullet.

Stanton, in a 3-for-34 slide entering the night, added another blast in the fifth, a line shot to right-center that came off the barrel at "only" 115.7 mph. His fifth homer of the season made it 5-3.

"It’s weird,’’ Aaron Boone said. "It’s just different. I’ve never seen anything like it. You don’t see balls hit like those. It was two really impressive swings. When he’s locked in, it’s just different than anyone I’ve ever seen."

"Lately, it’s ‘hey, I found the barrel.’ That’s how those felt," Stanton said with a smile.

Said Boone: "I think we’re going to be a juggernaut on offense. When they put it together, they’re going to be scary."

Montgomery, Lucas Luetge, Darren O’Day, Chad Green and Aroldis Chapman combined to allow no runs, three hits and two walks after the first inning.

After needing 37 pitches to get through a three-run first, Montgomery settled down, at one point retiring 10 of 11 batters.

"He was a hitter away from being out of the game,’’ Boone said. "I [didn’t] like taking him over 35 pitches in that inning. But he makes a pitch to get out of that inning to [Roberto] Perez and then just settled in. For as much of a grind it was in that first inning, it was another gutsy effort when it’s not perfect."

Montgomery departed with two on and two outs in the bottom of the fifth, forced from the game after Gleyber Torres failed to make the play on a chopper hit by Jose Ramirez, which generously was scored an infield hit. But Luetge struck out Cleveland slugger Franmil Reyes looking at a filthy curveball and the Yankees never were really threatened again.

Montgomery allowed three runs, four hits and three walks in 4 2⁄3 innings, striking out five.

"I needed to get myself together,'' he said. "I really wasn’t commanding anything, [a lot of] non-competitive at-bats. Just wasn’t good. But I figured it out and started clicking in the second inning."

Luetge walked a batter but otherwise had an easy sixth. O’Day’s sidearm slow stuff retired Cleveland (8-10) in order in the seventh and Green allowed a leadoff single in the eighth but then induced a double-play ball. Chapman struck out one in a perfect ninth for his fourth save.

The Yankees, as they did Thursday, resembled the junior varsity in falling behind 3-0 in the first inning.

Montgomery retired leadoff man Jordan Luplow on a fly ball to right but walked Cesar Hernandez on four pitches and Jose Ramirez on six. Reyes, the lumbering DH who hit his first career triple Thursday night, then laced a 1-and-2 changeup over the head of leftfielder Clint Frazier, who got turned around as the liner came toward him, for an RBI double that made it 1-0. Montgomery fell behind Eddie Rosario 2-and-0 before he grounded to Torres, who was on the second-base side on the shift, to make it 2-0.

Nick Nelson began warming in the Yankees’ bullpen and Amed Rosario hit a ground smash between third and short for an RBI single that made it 3-0, the same first-inning deficit the Yankees faced the previous night.

But in the second, Hicks, in a 2-for-21 skid, ripped a homer to leftfield to cut the deficit to 3-1. Gary Sanchez singled and one out later, Odor got the barrel of the bat under a 1-and-2 slider and launched it to right to tie it at 3.

Said Boone, "Another really good win and a lot of contributions from Monty on down to the bullpen. Obviously Big G had a couple of homers and Aaron had the homer, but look at all the really good at-bats. Felt like more and more quality at-bats from the whole group, and that’s good to see."

By Erik Boland

erik.boland@newsday.comeboland11

Erik Boland started in Newsday's sports department in 2002. He covered high school and college sports, then shifted to the Jets beat. He has covered the Yankees since 2009.