Gerrit Cole had more trouble than giving up two early home games and Aaron Boone hooked him up sooner than the ace would have looked.
Working against the Rays on Wednesday night for a lineup that lacks Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton and DJ LeMahieu, set Cole up well enough to win.
However, Cole was sabotaged by a lineup that failed to invent six Rays pitchers and a killer fielding error by Zack Britton in the eighth inning that led to a 4-2 loss at Yankee Stadium.
It was the Yankees’ fifth loss in six games to the Rays, who moved within one-half game of the AL leaders. They will attempt to drop three directly to the Rays on Thursday afternoon.
“It’s more like on offense than anything,” Brett Gardner said after the Yankees went 0-for-7 with rounds in scoring position, managing four hits and striking out 14 times. ‘It’s up to us to resolve Tampa’s pitching and give him a little more run support.’ ‘
Adding to the frustrating night, Britton stretched to the back of his left thigh, after giving an RBI single to Willy Adames in the eighth and furious as he ran off the mound. Boone said Britton was investigated after the game.
As for Cole, he hid his displeasure over the lift with two outs in the seventh and the score was tied, 2-2.
‘I was in a good position to complete it,’ ‘said Cole, who allowed two runs, six hits, one run, 10 outs and was very animated in the dugout. ‘He made the move before he even got out of there, so it didn’t really matter what I said to him on the mound. What I said in my glove I will leave behind. ”
Cole gave up solo homers to Ji-Man Choi in the second and Mike Zunino in the third. Luke Voit’s homer in the third off Tyler Glasnow and Gio Urshela’s sacrifice in the sixth tied the score, 2-2.
Britton replaced Cole and recorded the final out of the seventh, but the eighth was a mess, thanks to him not throwing field from Voit on the bag answering a two-run Rays rally that was the difference.
Despite the Yankees’ misery on the plate, they had a chance in the ninth thanks to Chaz Roe walking Gleyber Torres and Gary Sanchez to start the inning. Gardner, who had three hits in his previous 25 at-bats, failed to advance the runners with a flyball to the center.
With Mike Tauchman ready to ride, Rays manager Kevin Cash called up leftist Jalen Beeks. That allowed Boone to shake Miguel Andujar’s dust to strike for Tauchman and Andujar whiffed. So Thairo Estrada ended it.
Boone thought about letting left-handed swinging Tauchman face Beeks, but opted for right-handed hitting Andujar, who has very limited experience with pinching.
‘I felt like this was our shot and felt like Miggy could have put a charge in there. So there was thought to be left over [Tauchman], but eventually the matchup asked for Miggy, ” Boone said.
Boone said it was the first time Cole had said anything to him when he was removed from a game this year. And knowing Cole’s competing soups, this will not be the last time the pitcher is upset, because he knows the responsibility that comes with a $ 324 million contract to be the Yankees’ ace.
Boone did not let Cole’s disappointment plague a strong exit.
“I thought Gerrit threw the ball incredibly well,” Boone said of the right-hander, whose 109 pitches a season were high. “I thought this was as dominant as we saw him.” ‘
What Cole was overwhelmed about leaving was streaming that from Boone’s shoulders.
“That’s the competitor in him,” Boone said. “He’s an ace and he wants the ball.” ‘
And a few more runes would not do it either.
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