The brightest takeaway from Gerrit Cole's afternoon is that he likely won't have to face Rafael Devers in the postseason.
When Cole pitches to the Red Sox sluggers, he loses.
If Cole refuses to pitch to Devers, he loses.
The Yankees ace pitched three innings Saturday before intentionally walking Devers and then collapsing in surprising, and surprising, quick fashion.
The Yankees' Game 1 starter collapsed in a 7-1 loss in front of a sellout crowd of 46,378 in the Bronx.
After allowing just one runner through three innings (Devers, of course, who was hit with a cutter in the first inning), Cole's day improved in the fourth inning.
With one out and no one on base, he held up a white flag with four fingers, pointing to first base for Devers.
Cole was tired of the three-time All-Star, who entered the game with eight career home runs and a 1.370 OPS.
No other hitter has hit more than four home runs against Cole.
The decision was surprising.
What followed was even worse.
Cole faced 12 batters for the remainder of the game, allowing 10 to reach base and giving up seven runs on five hits, three walks and three hit by pitch before leaving the game.
The once-good Cole has allowed a total of seven runs in his past seven starts.
The Yankees (86-63) had a three-game winning streak snapped and their starting pitcher suffered an uncharacteristic slump, allowing two or more runs for just the fourth time in their past 12 games.
This was a most unusual unexploded bomb.
Cole threw 33 pitches over three innings and held the batter hitless until the fourth inning before crumbling.
Following the intentional walk, Tyler O'Neill was given an unintentional walk.
Yoshida Masataka hit a grounder down the left field line for a double, scoring one point.
Willyar Abreu found a hole in right field and smashed a two-run single.
A double play by Triston Casas ended the inning, but Cole's rapid decline didn't stop.
Cole faced seven batters in the fifth inning and recorded one out.
Trevor Story singled and then Danny Jansen walked to reach base.
After Emmanuel Valdez flied out, Cole struck out Jarren Duran with a cutter to load the bases. Who else? For Devers.
Boston's (75-74) best hitter has struggled with injuries and enters the game with a .175 batting average and a .431 OPS over its past 15 games.
That sample size doesn't matter to Cole, who he'll be facing this time around.
Devers hit a two-run single to right-center field to make the score 5-1.
After O'Neill was out on a fastball and Yoshida singled, Cole was pulled from the game and disappeared off the field into the tunnel.
On Tuesday, Cole was asked at Hispanic Heritage Media Day which Latino player has embarrassed him the most.
Before the question could be finished, Cole interjected, “Rafael Devers.”
The third baseman has troubled Cole more than any other hitter, but Cole only faced the Red Sox on July 6 this season.
Devers hit a one-run single and a home run in the fifth inning to eject Cole from the game.
On Saturday, the reigning American League Cy Young Award winner tried a different strategy against his arch rival, and it didn't work.
