With three-plus weeks remaining in a very strange season, it is getting late early and darker by the hour for the Yankees.
Monday night at Yankee Stadium was why Hal Steinbrenner signed off on a monster contract to finally put Gerrit Cole in pinstripes. Steinbrenner and the entire organization understood a staff ace was a must and believed Cole would help pitch the Yankees to multiple World Series titles.
So it was fitting that Cole opened a crucial three-game series against the AL East-leading Rays with the Yankees looking to cut into the visitors’ lead.
Yet by the time the Rays were done hitting in the second inning, Cole had given up three runs on homers by left-handed hitters Ji-Man Choi and Kevin Kiermaier and the Yankees were on the way to a 5-3 defeat that dropped them a season-high 4½ lengths back of the Rays, who have won seven of eight against them. The loss ended the Bombers’ three-game winning streak.
Cole entered the game having allowed 10 homers, which was two back of Ross Stripling’s MLB high. And since left-handed hitters have tasted success against Cole this year, he was asked if he believed he was tipping pitches.
“We all pretty much tip pretty much every game. How many pitches a game I don’t know. Some days the other team has an edge four, five, six, seven pitches. Some days it might be more,’’ said Cole, who lost a second straight game after winning 20 in a row and is 4-2. “Some hitters look for it, some hitters don’t. I think the point is there are several different factors that are contributing to certainty to which guys are getting their swings off in certain counts so I am looking into it.’’
As for the Rays dominating the Yankees, the picture has changed, according to Kiermaier.
Gerrit ColeRobert Sabo“We’ve had some pretty good battles over the years and they’ve always kicked our butts here and we’ve flipped the script for 2020,’’ said Kiermaier, whose club has won all four games in The Bronx.
In five innings, Cole gave up four runs and a season high in hits (eight) and walks (four). He also hit a batter and struck out seven.
“I think command-wise he was a little off and not frankly a lot. A lot of close pitches they did a good job with. He made a couple of mistakes trying to get to a spot and [the Rays] yanked a couple on the homers,’’ Aaron Boone said of Cole, who didn’t have a clean inning out of the five. “The Kiermaier homer, trying to go away with that and pulled it into the nitro zone. Choi is a tough matchup and tried to back-door a slider, but probably too much of the plate.’’
With Tyler Glasnow smothering the Yankees’ bats for six innings in which he didn’t allow a run and didn’t give up a hit until DJ LeMahieu’s infield single in the sixth, the 4-0 deficit Cole left his mates seemed much larger.
The Yankees chipped away at what became a 5-0 hole with Gio Urshela’s leadoff homer in the seventh and Luke Voit’s two-run blast in the eighth. Both were hit off Edgar Garcia.
Aaron Hicks’ pinch-hit single with one out in the ninth provided a glimpse of hope, but Brett Gardner struck out and LeMahieu grounded out to pitcher Diego Castillo to end it.
Cole said he feels fine physically but the loss to the Rays cut deep.
“It certainly doesn’t ease the pain,’’ Cole said. “I am pretty hard on myself as it is. I am wearing it.’’
