In a much bigger picture, Hal Steinbrenner entices Gerrit Cole to join the Yankees with a shaky amount of money and the belief that he could give the Yankees multiple World Series titles.
That may or may not happen in the nine years that Cole has worked for Steinbrenner, who along with sister Jennifer, club president Randy Levine and COO Lonn Trost saw Cole suffocate the Red Sox at Yankee Stadium on Friday night.
Yet Cole’s first taste was of what was once the greatest rivalry of baseball, also why Steinbrenner wanted him in pinstrips.
Since Aaron Judge joined Giancarlo Stanton on the injured list earlier in the day with a tight right calf, the Yankees’ lineup has been without enough fireworks. Add in Gary Sanchez, Gleyber Torres, Brett Gardner and Aaron Hicks all frigid at the same time, and Cole was needed to deliver against a solid, if not great, lineup.
Cole accepted the challenge in his fifth start and put the Yankees to a 10-3 victory. The win raised Cole’s season record to 4-0 and lowered his ERA to 2.76.
It was Cole’s 20th straight victory and tied him with Jake Arrieta, Roger Clemens and Rube Marquard for third on the all-time list. Carl Hubbell is first with 24 in a row and Roy Face second at 22. Cole has not lost in 27 starters.
Cole allowed a run in a season-high seven innings. He gave up four hits, struck out eight and gave up no walks.
In a sign that Sanchez was perhaps from a heavy shot, the catcher launched a two-run homer into the left-field bleachers that hiked the Yankees’ lead to 5-1 in the fifth. It was Sanchez’s second homer in so many games and third of the season. Torres, who started the game batting .161 (9-for-56), may have shaken the shivers because he had four hits, including a double of two runs in the third inning. Torres was replaced by Tyler Wade in the top of the eighth on shortstop.
Mike Tauchman, who replaced Judge on the right field, rode in four runs and designated hitter Clint Frazier broke the game open with a two-run duel in the three-run seventh to make it 8-1.
The victory was the 13-6 Yankees’ seventh straight over the Red Sox and 12th in 13 games. They are 18-4 against the Red Sox in The Bronx since 2018.
An excellent example of how overwhelming Cole was when he hit elite hitter JD Martinez three times on bad swings.
Thanks to Jonathan Holder leading two rounds to start the eighth when the Yankees led 8-1, and giving up two hits, Aaron Boone was forced to call up Adam Ottavino with rounds on first and second, one out and Martinez the next hitter. He struck out in search of his fourth whiff of the game. Ottavino put an end to the rally by getting Xander Bogaerts through a move.
Cole found his first real test in the fifth inning when Christian Vazquez finished with one out to the right and the bright Jackie Bradley Jr. doubled in the left center field. With runners-up on second and third and the Yankees leading, 2-1, Cole fell no. 9 hitter Jonathan Arauz a grounder to third baseman Gio Urshela to end the scoring threat.
.
