Gio Urshela, Clint Frazier spark offense as Yankees beat Rays for second game in a row

It is far too soon to declare the season-long difficulties the Yankees have had getting big hits over, the same way it is too soon to say the same of their overall travails against the Rays.

Still, it’s now two straight games in which the signs in relation to both have been encouraging.

One night after Clint Frazier’s two-run homer in the 11th gave the Yankees a walk-off win Tuesday, Gio Urshela and Frazier delivered the kind of significant hits mostly missing for their club this season.

Their efforts, and seven strong innings by Jordan Montgomery and more shutdown work by a bullpen that’s been impenetrable of late, led to a 4-3 victory over the Rays in front of 13,824 at the Stadium.

"They’re in first place," Urshela said. "It’s very important for us to get those wins, to get closer to them."

The Yankees (31-25), who ran into two more outs on the bases to run that ignominious total to an MLB-leading 29, improved to 5-7 against the AL East-leading Rays (35-22) this season.

Urshela’s two-out, two-run homer in the first gave Montgomery an early lead and Frazier’s two-run single with one out in the fourth extended the Yankees’ lead to 4-1.

"It definitely helps," Montgomery said of being spotted the 2-0 lead after one. "Our hitters have been stringing together really good ABs lately so that was a good start to the game."

Montgomery, who came in 2-1 with 4.22 ERA, including 1-1 with a 4.76 ERA in three starts vs. the Rays, allowed three runs (one earned) and five hits over 6 1/3 innings.

"We needed some length if we were going have a good game today and Monty gave it to us," said Aaron Boone, whose bullpen has been taxed in recent days.

After Montgomery departed with two on and one out in the seventh, Jonathan Loaisiga, Chad Green and closer Aroldis Chapman combined to throw 2 2/3 scoreless innings, extending the bullpen’s scoreless inning streak to 17 2/3 (Loaisiga allowed an inherited runner to score in the seventh to make it 4-3). Chapman didn’t make it easy on the crowd in the ninth, walking the inning’s first two hitters. But he struck out the dangerous Randy Arozarena and then Ji-Man Choi after an eight-pitch battle. He retired Austin Meadows on a comebacker to move to 12-for-13 in saves.

"I was a bit wild," Chapman said through his interpreter. "Something was off. But I made the adjustment and was able to get out of it."

Tampa’s Shane McClanahan, a 24-year-old lefthander, was not sharp, allowing four runs and five hits over 3 1/3 innings.

He put his team in a hole quickly.

Giancarlo Stanton snapped a 0-for-13 stretch since coming off the IL last Friday with a one-out single to left, the ball leaving his bat at 114.2 mph. Aaron Judge bounced one to third, which looked like a shoo-in double play ball, but the outfielder, getting his second career big-league start in center, hustled down the line to just beat the relay throw to first, extending the inning. That proved critical as Urshela, in a 1-for-19 skid, homered to right.

The Rays got one back in the fourth to make it 2-1 but the Yankees opened it back up in the bottom half when Frazier, facing righty side-armer Ryan Thompson, brought in specifically to face him, sent a fastball back up the middle for a two-run single. Frazier has four RBIs in his last two games after driving in just one run his previous 17 games.

A Rougned Odor error led to an unearned run in the fifth that made it 4-2, a lead Montgomery took into the seventh when his own error — on a comebacker — helped Tampa score to make it 4-3.

"I talk about it all the time, you're going to face adversity in the course of a season," Boone said of his club bouncing back from being swept in Detroit over the weekend, then losing the first game of this series. "You’ve got to be able to deal with it, you’ve got to be able to answer it."