Yankees blow early 5-run lead, lose 7-6 to Brewers | Rapid reaction

MILWAUKEE — The Yankees handed Frankie Montas a 5-0 lead by the second inning.

That should have been ballgame.

It wasn’t.

Montas imploded again and eventually the Yankees wound up 7-6 losers to the Milwaukee Brewers when Clay Holmes flopped again.

Bad night for the Yankees, who had two players depart due to an injury and illness in addition to losing a game on their division lead.

Garrett Mitchell won it for the Brewers by lining a two-out, bases-loaded single to center off Holmes, who got into trouble allowing a leadoff double to Hunter Renfroe.

Down 5-0 early, the Brewers pulled ahead for the first time 6-5 in the eighth inning on a two-out error by shortstop Isiah Kiner-Falefa, who booted a routine grounder to bring in the go-ahead run from third base.

Trailing for the first time, the Yankees evened the game right back up in the ninth on a leadoff homer by Josh Donaldson, who towered a high drive to left that banged off the foul pole.

Later in the Yankees’ ninth, they had the go-ahead run on third base with one out, but Miguel Andujar was rung up on an outside pitch that was called a strike. Kyle Higashioka promptly flied out to center, ending the inning.

Between innings, Yankees manager Aaron Boone was ejected for disputing the bad cal on Andujar.

Montas was roughed up for four runs over 3 1/3 innings on four hits and four walks. The big blow was a three-run, two-out homer in the second by Brewers shortstop Willy Adames that took a big bite out of the Yankees’ 5-0 lead.

Montas was knocked out in the third after issuing a one-out walk to the No. 9 hitter that ignited a two-run, game-tying rally with lefty Lucas Luetge pitching in relief.

In eight starts with the Yankees, Montas has a 6.35 ERA.

Making a bad night worse, the Yankees lost catcher Jose Trevino mid-game due to right knee contusion. He was struck on a foul tip with Brewers third baseman Jace Peterson batting in the sixth and departed in the eighth for a pinch-hitter.

Yankees first baseman Marwin Gonzalez also left the game early due to illness.

Aaron Judge was 2-for-4 with a walk, but didn’t homer for the second game in a row and remained stuck on 57. He needs five homers in the Yankees’ final 18 games to pass Roger Maris’ 61 in 1961 for a new franchise and American League record.

The loss left the Yankees 5 ½ games ahead of second-place Toronto in the AL East.

NOTABLE

— Reliever Aroldis Chapman was activated from the 15-day injured list. Long reliever Ryan Weber was DFA’d to free up a roster spot.

— Luis Severino will come off the 60-day IL and start Wednesday night against Pittsburgh at Yankee Stadium. The righty pitched a third rehab game on Thursday night, allowing two runs over 4 1/3 innings for Somerset.

— Two of the Yankees’ injured players faced each other in a pre-game live BP when reliever Scott Effross pitched to Anthony Rizzo. Both came out of it well. On Sunday, Effross has been cleared to pitch in a Triple-A game while Rizzo is expected to come off the IL and be in the Yankees’ lineup.

— Outfielder prospect Jasson Dominguez, promoted from High-A Hudson Valley to Double-A Somerset this week, will represent the Yankees in the Arizona Fall League.

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LOOKING AHEAD

Saturday: Yankees at Brewers, 7:10 p.m., EST, YES/MLB Network (out of market). RHP Jameson Taillon (13-4, 3.94) vs. RHP Brandon Woodruff (10-4, 3.39).

Sunday: Yankees at Brewers, 2:10 p.m., EST, YES. RHP Gerrit Cole (11-7, 3.30) vs. RHP Jason Alexander (2-3, 5.29).

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Randy Miller may be reached at rmiller@njadvancemedia.com.

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