Domingo German allows two homers as Yankees lose to Indians

CLEVELAND — The return of Didi Gregorius to the Yankees wasn’t enough to overcome a third straight subpar outing by Domingo German.

And the latter was a reminder that although it remains to be seen if the Yankees’ refusal to budge from their offer to Dallas Keuchel was a mistake, bolstering their rotation likely will be necessary to get this club where it expects to go.

German again was victimized by the long ball, allowing two home runs in a 5-2 loss to the Indians on Friday night in front of 31,531 at Progressive Field.

Carlos Santana’s two-run homer with none out in the sixth snapped a 2-2 tie. Tyler Naquin — who entered the game with one home run in 98 at-bats over 33 games this season — also homered off German.

German said of Santana’s homer, “I was trying to expand the zone there with a changeup down and away, trying to get a double-play ball there to get us out of the inning, but I left it high and he took advantage of it.”

After going 9-1 in his first 10 games this season, German has allowed seven homers in 14 2⁄3 innings in his last three starts. Although he has struck out 20 in that span, he has given up 21 hits and 14 earned runs, and his ERA has gone from 2.60 to 3.86.

“Still seeing lots of encouraging things,’’ Aaron Boone said. “A little bump here, but all in all, I think he’s real close to being the guy we’ve seen much of the year. You want to keep the ball in the ballpark, no question, so that’s just about being a little sharper.”

German said of his recent mistakes that have resulted in home runs: “Those are the consequences at this level. You miss pitches like that, they’re going to take advantage of those. I don’t get frustrated out there. I try to put it aside and concentrate on the next batter because I have faith in myself and the team and in pitching. So it’s just about trying to make those adjustments.”

The Indians made it 5-2 in the eighth against David Hale when Francisco Lindor tripled and scored on Jason Kipnis’ sacrifice fly. Brad Hand struck out the side in the ninth for his 19th save.

Indians righthander Zach Plesac, the 24-year-old nephew of former big-league pitcher Dan Plesac, made his third career start and allowed two runs and six hits in seven innings. After the Yankees took a 2-0 lead on Clint Frazier’s RBI double in the second inning and Aaron Hicks’ homer in the third, Plesac threw four scoreless innings.

Kipnis’ RBI single in the fourth brought the Indians within 2-1 and Naquin’s homer with two outs in the fifth tied it.

The good news for the Yankees was that Gregorius was back.

Any time his faster-than-expected rehab process has been mentioned to Boone this season, a wide smile has broken across his face. It was Gregorius who was all smiles Friday afternoon (although Boone presumably was pretty happy, too).

After having Tommy John surgery last October, he made his season debut and lined a single into the rightfield corner on the first pitch he saw, although he was thrown out attempting to stretch it into a double. He also got a hit in his second at-bat and finished 2-for-4.

“Really, obviously, good to see him back,'' Boone said. "I thought he looked really good up there. Swung the bat well. Good to see him out in the field, didn’t have a lot of action out there, but obviously a good first day for him to get a couple of hits under his belt and get in the flow now. Just great having him back.”

Said Gregorius, “It’s something to always look forward to. I was out for like eight months but I was always around talking to the guys and I felt at home as soon as I came back. It was a really good day even though we didn’t get the ‘W.’ It’s a good start.”

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.