Kyle Higashioka is showing he might be more than simply Gerrit Cole’s personal catcher.
The backup, catching Cole for a sixth consecutive start in place of Gary Sanchez, homered to lead off the top of the fifth inning of Game 1 of the ALDS and had a pair of hits — besides a solid performance behind the plate, in a 9-3 win over the Rays on Monday at Petco Park in San Diego.
It tied the game and two batters later, Aaron Judge gave the Yankees the lead.
“They just took the lead and you want to jump back on them,’’ Higashioka said.
And Higashioka helped preserve that lead in the bottom of the inning behind the plate. After Cole loaded the bases with two out, he threw a nasty curveball to Manuel Margot.
Unfortunately, Higashioka was expecting a high fastball and reacted accordingly.
Kyle Higashioka circles the bases after hitting a home run for the Yankees in Game 1.APSomehow, Higashioka adjusted in time and caught the ball cleanly to prevent a wild pitch — and stop Brandon Lowe from scoring from third base to tie the game.
“I may be biased, but the most important play of the evening from Kyle was when I crossed him up with the curveball to Margot,” said Cole, who threw the wrong pitch. “Goodness, just to keep it in front of him would have been nice, but to catch it. … It would have been a totally different ballgame. It was a hell of a catch.”
Higashioka said he just reacted once he realized the curveball was coming, about halfway to the plate.
Cole went on to strike Margot out with a 100 mph fastball to end the threat.
Higashioka also singled to start the top of the ninth and came around to score on Aaron Hicks’ single to give the Yankees some insurance.
And while Cole wasn’t as dominant as he’d been in his five previous outings with Higashioka behind the plate, he was good enough to outduel Tampa Bay ace Blake Snell.
Before Cole’s previous start in Game 1 of the wild-card series, Aaron Boone said it was clear the two were comfortable together, but didn’t rule out pairing Cole with Sanchez again this postseason.
Since being matched up with Higashioka, Cole hadn’t allowed more than two earned runs in any outing until Monday, when he was hurt once again by the home run.
On Monday, Cole allowed three runs in six innings, with homers coming from Randy Arozarena in the first and another from Ji-Man Choi — his third of the season off Cole — in the fourth.
Choi’s blast gave the Rays the lead, but Higashioka made sure it didn’t last long.
