NEW YORK _ The conditions Tuesday afternoon were, certainly for a baseball game, barbaric.
Rain and then a steady mist all day, a first-pitch temperature of 40 degrees with a wind chill of 35, temperatures that dropped as the afternoon ticked into early evening.
The majority of players from both teams looked miserable in their assortment of long sleeves, pullovers and ear-flap caps, anything for a modicum of warmth.
Didi Gregorius didn't seem to mind in the least.
The shortstop, viewed inside the Yankees clubhouse as one of the most underrated players in the sport, swatted a pair of three-run homers in an 11-4 victory over the Rays at Yankee Stadium.
The paid attendance was 46,776, with maybe half of that inside the Stadium, a number that dipped as the game moved along.
Gregorius, batting cleanup, went 4-for-4 with a walk and a career-high eight RBIs, making him 8-for-18 this season with nine RBIs. Just one of the hits was a single.
Gregorius' second three-run homer of the day, a second-decker in the seventh off righty Austin Pruitt, gave the Yankees (3-2) an 8-4 lead. His two-run single in a three-run eighth made it 11-4.
In the lineup Gregorius followed Giancarlo Stanton, who had a forgettable Stadium debut, five strikeouts in five at-bats.
Left-hander Jordan Montgomery, making his first start of the season, allowed one run, two hits and four walks over five innings. The 25-year-old, 9-7 with a 3.88 ERA last year, struck out four. Right-hander Chris Archer started for the Rays (1-4) and allowed four runs and six hits over five innings. He walked three and struck out eight.
It was the second straight game an expected strength of the Yankees, their bullpen, failed to hold a lead.
Unlike Sunday in Toronto, the implosion didn't cost them the game.
The Yankees led 4-1 going into the sixth but things got tighter when Aaron Boone went with righty Jonathan Holder.
Holder struck out Carlos Gomez looking to start the inning and it went downhill quickly from there. C.J. Cron doubled, Wilson Ramos singled and Adeiny Hechavarria blooped an RBI single to right to make it 4-2. Jesus Sucre's ground single to left loaded the bases and Boone called on Tommy Kahnle to face the lefty-hitting Brad Miller. Kahnle, who allowed a two-run homer in Sunday's loss to Toronto, struck out Miller swinging at a changeup for the second out. Kahnle could not escape, allowing a two-run double, on a 0-and-2 pitch, to pinch hitter Denard Span, which tied it at 4-4.
Tyler Austin, who struck out in his first two at-bats, led off the seventh against Pruitt with a double to right. Brett Gardner, one of just a few players daring enough to wear short sleeves on the arctic afternoon, laid down a sacrifice bunt toward third. Matt Duffy, the third baseman charged in and fielded the ball, but threw wide of first, the error allowing Austin to score to make it 5-4 and put Gardner on second.
Aaron Judge flared a full-count pitch to center for his second hit of the day, bringing up Stanton. The left fielder struck out for the fourth time in the game and, on his way back to the dugout, heard boos for the first time as a Yankee. It was not the last, as he would hear even more after striking out in the eighth with the bases loaded.
