Gerrit Cole was fired up in the seventh inning.
After Mariners second baseman Jose Caballero played some mind games at the dish, the Yankees ace threw one of his fastest pitches of the night and wagged his finger at Caballero’s after an inning-ending strikeout during Tuesday night’s 3-1 win.
Cole appeared to be upset over some of Caballero’s antics during the at-bat, which included flipping the bat after a foul ball.
After Caballero took him time to get into the batters’ box after using his timeout, a visibly frustrated Cole fired a ball well above Caballero’s head and off the screen behind home plate.
“The high fastball can be effective,” Cole jokingly said about the pitch.
And if Cole’s displeasure wasn’t evident enough at that point, he made it abundantly clear later in the at-bat when he got Caballero to fan on a 98 mph fastball to end the inning.
In the excitement, Cole shouted after he struck out the second baseman and stared him down as he walked off the mound.
The Yankees started wagged his finger toward the Seattle dugout as he walked off the field.
“Their manager had some choice words for me coming off the field, and he was wagging his finger at me, so I wagged my finger at him,” Cole explained.
Gerrit Cole yells toward home plate after retiring the side in the seventh inning of the Yankees’ 3-1 win over the Mariners on June 20. APWhen asked if he had taken exception to what Caballero had been doing between pitches, Cole said, “It seems like that’s his game, but I just work with it.”
Yankees manager Aaron Boone told reporters after the game that he “Didn’t think much of it.”
Cole exited the game after striking out Seattle’s Dylan Moore to start the eighth.
He finished the game with eight strikeouts in 7 1/3 innings, allowing one run on four hits.
