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OAKLAND — This time, there were no intentional walks to interrupt Gerrit Cole‘s start — just a vintage performance that suggested the Yankees’ ace may be ready for October.
Cole bounced back from the controversial free pass that unraveled his last start to produce his best outing of the season, firing nine innings in the Yankees’ 4-2, 10-inning victory over the Athletics on Friday evening at the Coliseum.
“You want to pitch better, but you try not to over-adjust, either,” Cole said. “It’s kind of a balance. I was excited to pitch today because I had a chance to go do something positive for the team.”
The Yankees scored the go-ahead run in the 10th on a passed ball that skipped by catcher Shea Langeliers, allowing Jasson Domínguez to slide home safely. Drama was already underway during that plate appearance, when Juan Soto emerged from the first-base dugout, bat in hand.
Scratched from the lineup due to swelling in his bruised left knee, Soto ripped a run-scoring double to deep left field off T.J. McFarland before exiting for a pinch-runner. Anthony Volpe added an RBI single, his third hit of the game, to provide cushion before Luke Weaver got the final three outs for his third save.
“Just an outstanding performance,” manager Aaron Boone said. “Nine innings, to be that pitch-efficient, I’m just proud of him. He obviously put us in a position to win a game where we were struggling to get much offense going for most of it. He kept us right there.”
In Cole’s previous start on Saturday against the Red Sox at Yankee Stadium, he had yet to permit a hit with one out in the fourth inning, when he flashed four fingers and pointed Rafael Devers to first base. The decision backfired, preceding Cole permitting a season-high seven runs.
Caught in the crosshairs of hot-topic sports talk all week, the right-hander turned the page by limiting the Athletics to a run on two hits, walking one and striking out seven. Cole said he benefited from “a combination of their aggressiveness and executing good pitches early in the count.”
“There were some balls that were hit hard, but they were well-located,” Cole said. “We funneled the balls to our defenders; specifically, Gleyber [Torres] had a couple of tough chances. … We just converted all of the outs that we had an opportunity to convert.”
Added catcher Austin Wells: “He did a great job just mixing up all of his pitches this whole night. Not many pitchers are going nine innings anymore, so that was special.”
It marked the first time Cole touched the seventh inning this season, then he went much further; Cole said he even lobbied Boone to pitch the 10th if the game remained tied, though that suggestion was quickly nixed.
“I didn’t fatigue tonight, which is a good sign,” Cole said. “I had more in the tank, which is also a good sign. That allowed us to execute pitches well into the night. I hadn’t pitched in the seventh, eighth or ninth yet. That felt really good, and so it was nice to see it come together.”
It has been a challenging year for Cole, the reigning American League Cy Young Award winner. Sidelined during Spring Training with right elbow inflammation, Cole did not make his season debut until June 19.
His game log has been a mixed bag — as he acknowledged, “There’s been a lot of good games, but there’s been a couple of clunkers, for sure.”
The glass-half-full take on Cole’s campaign could be that his arm is livelier now than it would have been had he made 33 starts, as he did last season when he paced the AL with 209 innings.
That could be bad news for playoff opponents, and a very good sign for the Yankees.
“I’d much rather have 212 innings under my belt,” Cole said. “Regardless of how I feel today, you’ve been in the flow of the league since April. That experience is invaluable. But I feel like we’re in a good spot right now. Just keep trying to press and go forward with a lot of confidence.”
