WATCH: Gary Sanchez’s loafing costs Yankees in 7-6 loss to Rays | Rapid reaction

Luis Severino and Gary Sanchez put the Yankees in a big hole, then a late rally fell short in a 7-6 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays on Monday night when Sanchez loafed to first base on a ball that would’ve tied the game

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Gary Sanchez, who loafed after a passed ball in the first inning and cost the Yankees a run, dogged it again in the ninth on a ground ball that could’ve tied the game, and instead the Yankees lost to the Tampa Rays, 7-6, on Monday night at Tropicana Field.

After his double offense of laziness, Sanchez should face a benching by manager Aaron Boone, who should send a message to his slumping, lazy and apathetic catcher — not to mention his team, which continues to fall further behind the Red Sox, who beat the Baltimore Orioles, 5-3, and now lead the Yankees by six games in the AL East.

With the Yankees trailing, Sanchez, hitting. 188, came to bat in the ninth inning with the bases loaded and two outs. He ripped a ground ball up the middle, but hustling Aaron Hicks beat the flip to second. Sanchez, loafing down the line, was thrown out at first, however, to end the game.

Hicks, by the way, limped off the field after his hard slide to reach second.

How the game ended with Gary Sanchez’s at-bat [?] pic.twitter.com/Y1P2BXb5Qk

— YES Network (@YESNetwork) July 24, 2018

Boone, who appeared to be covering for Sanchez (at least temporarily), said he didn’t see how Sanchez ran to first and would watch the replay before deciding on any possible discipline. Boone didn’t need to see the video to know Sanchez loafed: The elapsed time of the play easily indicated that.

“First off, I want to watch what and see what happened,” Boone said. “I’m always having conversations with out guys — positive, negative. But I want to see what went on first.”

The sin was obvious — and it was Sanchez’s second of the night.

Jake Bauers scored from second base on a passed ball in the first inning when Sanchez didn’t hustle chasing the ball when it rolled up the third-base line and then hit the Bauers in the back when flipping a throw to pitcher Luis Severino at the plate.

Sanchez has given Boone with his first real test as manager: Will Boone step up and discipline the chronically lazy catcher?

Remember, Boone was given the job after Joe Girardi was kicked to the curb because GM Brian Cashman wanted a manager who could better relate to young players like Sanchez.

In the ninth, Boone also made a curious decision. With runners on first and second and no one out, he had shortstop Didi Gregorius sacrifice, and the successful bunt left first base open. That took the bat out of Giancarlo Stanton’s hands, and the slugger was walked intentionally to load the bases.

Stanton was 9-for-9 at Tropicana Field in his last nine at-bats, including a two-run single that had cut the deficit to 7-6.

Why have Gregorius bunt?

“Just the lefty-lefty matchup there (with Rays reliever Jose Alvarado pitching) and knowing they’d walk (Stanton), but what’s the trade off?,” Boone said. “Do you like the bases loaded, one out with Hicks from the right side? We did, and we liked getting Alvarado off the mound in a fielding situation as well.”

Aside from Sanchez, Severino was the other major disappointment allowing seven runs, six earned, on a career-high 11 hits over five-plus innings.

This was the third bad start in a row for Severino, who has allowed 14 runs and 25 hits over 15 innings in the stretch.

Against the Rays, Severino gave up two costly homers that accounted for four runs, the big blow a three-run host in the fifth by Bauers that put the Yankees in a 4-1 hole.

“I made a couple mistakes in the middle,” Severino said. “You’re going to have those kinds of days once in a while.”

Sanchez’s bad day was worse. His lack of hustle on two occasions cost the Yankees the game.

“You learn a lot in this game and this is one of those instances where you learn from it,” Sanchez said. “You put it behind and you look forward to tomorrow.”

NOTABLE

— Stanton was 4-for-4 with a double, two RBI and an intentional walk to raise his average to .285, which is a percentage point ahead of Aaron Judge’s .284 average.

— Gleyber Torres played the second of three scheduled rehab games on Monday night in nearby Tampa for the high A Tarpons and was 2-for-4 with a double playing second base for all nine innings of a 7-4 win over Bradenton. Torres, who now is 3-for-7 in two rehab games, has been on the disabled list since July 5 with a right hip strain. The Yankees’ plan is for Torres to play again for Tampa on Tuesday, then come off the DL for their series finale against the Rays on Wednesday.

— Ronald Torreyes finally returned to action on Monday night by playing shortstop for Tampa in a rehab game after being on Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre’s temporary inactive list since June 26 due to a family issue. Torreyes was 1-for-3 before being lifted for a pinch-hitter in the sixth inning.

— Outfielder Clint Frazier, who went on the disabled list on July 20 after experiencing dizziness during a Triple-A game, was examined by a Connecticut neurologist Monday and diagnosed with post-concussive migraines.

LOOKING AHEAD

Tuesday: Yankees at Tampa Bay Rays, 7:10 p.m., YES. RHP Masahiro Tanaka (7-2, 4.54) vs. TBA.

Wednesday: Yankees at Tampa Bay Rays, 12:10 p.m., YES. RHP Luis Cessa (1-1, 3.00) vs. RHP Nathan Eovaldi (3-4, 4.26).

Thursday: Kansas City Royals at Yankees, 7:05 p.m., WPIX. RHP Jakob Junis (5-10, 5.03) vs. RHP Sonny Gray (7-7, 5.34).

Friday: Kansas City Royals at Yankees, 7:05 p.m., WPIX. RHP Brad Keller (3-4, 3.20) vs. LHP CC Sabathia (6-4, 3.51).

Randy Miller may be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @RandyJMiller. Find NJ.com on Facebook.