ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — So much for showing emotion.
Yankees manager Joe Girardi got tossed following a disputed called third strike to Chris Dickerson that ended the top of the fourth inning.
The Yankees followed by making 10 straight outs and Freddy Garcia giving up back-to-back homers an inning later in a 5-2 loss to the Rays Tuesday night.
Contrast that with Rays manager Joe Maddon getting tossed in the eighth inning of the Rays’ win on Monday, when Tampa Bay took the lead with a pair of singles and a stolen base just three batters after the manager’s eruption.
Girardi wouldn’t discuss what set him off from the dugout, where he was ejected by home-plate umpire Tony Randazzo with the Yankees trailing by just a run.
“I’m not going to comment on that,” he said. “You saw what happened. I don’t think it does any good to comment on that.”
These days with the stumbling Yankees, it doesn’t do any good to do anything.
Down 3-2, Dickerson took a called third strike that may have been high as Jayson Nix appeared to steal second as the potential tying run.
“Joe was yelling out of the dugout,” crew chief Brian Gorman said. “And when Tony looked in, he told him to knock it off. Joe continued to yell. He was ejected.”
Gorman said Girardi was arguing balls and strikes and seemed surprised when asked if Dickerson had called time before the pitch, as the outfielder claimed.
Hitting coach Kevin Long disputed the notion Girardi was causing a stir from the dugout.
“I think what he said was, ‘Please don’t look in this dugout,’ ” Long said. “He wasn’t yelling and screaming.”
Girardi would be soon enough, as he sprinted out of the dugout and heatedly jawed with Randazzo.
“I did call time out and the ball was up,” Dickerson said. “I didn’t know, turned around and it was a called third strike. Nobody knew what happened. The ball was questionable. He said it was at the belt. It would have been a good situation.
“It could have been a turning point.”
With the way the Yankees have been playing, that seems hard to believe.
The Yankees certainly didn’t respond in the aftermath, losing their third straight and fifth in six games — as well as sole possession of first place for the first time since June 11.