Gerrit Cole is getting paid a pretty penny to end his streak of poor performances.
As a high-value ace, it’s part of his job description.
But instead of putting out the fire of the Yankees’ continuing struggles, he threw kerosene on it.
The reigning American League Cy Young Award winner was soundly defeated by the Mets for the second time this year, as the Yankees were thrashed by their Bronx rivals, 12-3, on Wednesday night.
With this big win, the Mets won the Subway Series for the second time since 2013.
Cole’s six-run blunder came at a bad time, with the fading Yankees trapped in neutral heading into a six-game road trip against the Red Sox and baseball’s best team, the Phillies.
Cole appeared to be back on track after missing the first 2 1/2 months of the season with a right elbow injury, pitching six consecutive strong innings.
He struck out the first eight batters he faced in the final game of the Subway Series, but then it all went wrong.
Cole allowed eight hits and three home runs against 19 batters faced.
Mets stars Francisco Lindor and Pete Alonso beat him at home runs, but his real competition was bottom-of-the-order hitter Tyrone Taylor.
Taylor, who entered the game batting .223 with a .647 OPS, led off with a solo homer in the third inning, singled before Lindor’s two-run homer in the fifth and then delivered a run-scoring single to close out Cole’s outing in the sixth.
At that point, the ace’s season ERA had risen to an abysmal 5.40 and he was ejected amid boos from angry Yankees fans.
He didn’t have a knack for striking out: Cole struck out just six times in 100 pitches, two of which came on 40 four-seam fastballs.
Cole produced little in his two starts against the Mets, giving up 12 runs (11.10 ERA) and seven home runs in 9 2/3 innings.
He has struggled against the Mets so far, posting a 7.03 ERA in nine starts and allowing just 14 home runs in 46 1/3 innings.
