ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Gerrit Cole came within one strike of earning his 20th straight win in the regular season before being pulled, and the New York Yankees beat the Tampa Bay Rays 8-4 Saturday in the opener of a seven-inning doubleheader.
Cole, who had won his first three starts since signing a $ 324 million, nine-year offseason contract, took a 5-0 lead in the fifth. With two outs and a runner up, Cole had a 1-2 count on Ji-Man Choi, who came back to hit an RBI double.
Jose Martinez followed with a two-run homer on the 107th field from a clearly encouraging Cole. The ace died in disbelief and went into a hut when Martinez’s station left the ballpark.
“Of course pitch count came up there,” Cole said. “I could not finish the execution as we wished. They just ran the count.”
Soon Yankees manager Aaron Boone took a slow walk to mound to replace Cole with Chad Green (2-0), who got the win after allowing one run over 1 1/3 innings.
“He was really good,” said Boone of Cole. “Credit to her, they made him work. A few mistakes made him end up.”
Cole announced to ban Roger Clemens, Jake Arrieta and Rube Marquard for the third longest streak ever. Hall of Famer Carl Hubbell leads the list with 24 in a row, followed by Roy Face with 22.
Cole hit 10, ran one and gave up six hits. His only loss since May 2019 came in Game 1 of the World Series last October, pitching for Houston against Washington.
Aaron Judge hit his eighth home game of the season for the Yankees. Giancarlo Stanton and Mike Ford also connected for New York.
After Ford homerated, a two-run duel of Gio Urshela put the Yankees up 4-0 and chased Rays starter Tyler Glasnow (0-1) with two outs in the third.
Stanton made it 5-0 on a shot from Sean Gilmartin from a fifth inning before Judge hit a two-run drive from an overhanging catwalk in the sixth that put New York at 7-3.
Urshela got his third RBI on a sacrificial flight in the seventh. He also made a tight waistline at the dugout of third base after a long run to pinch-hitter Austin Meadows’ foul in the sixth.
Glasnow gave up four runs, five hits, three walks and struck out five in a 71-pitch outing.
“It apparently didn’t go as planned. I left too many good pitches across the plate and came for no one,” Glasnow said. “If I can not throw a curveball for a strike, then I have one option, or one and a half options in principle, just a bit of a change. When I start with 2-0, everyone in the building knows what’s coming. “
MILESTONE
FAN Brett Gardner played in his 1,510th game with the Yankees to overtake Alex Rodriguez for single possession of 17th place on the teams all-time list.
SLUMP BUILDING?
Yankees SS Gleyber Torres was hit in 24 at-bats before getting a single in the second. … Rays C Mike Zunino was fouled in a 0 for 23 slide before doubling Cole in the fifth.
TRAINER’S CHAMBER
Yankees: C Kyle Higashioka was placed on the 10-day IL with a straight shoe trunk and will have an MRI on Monday.
FOLLOWING
Yankees LHP James Paxton (0-1) and Tampa Bay RHP Charlie Morton (1-1) are the scheduled starters in the series finale on Sunday.
