Yankees Demand Perfection from Gerrit Cole
The Yankees seemingly expected nothing less than perfection from Gerrit Cole.
Despite the challenge, Cole appeared capable of living up to those high standards.
Pitching without their star, Aaron Judge, and against a struggling lineup, Cole dazzled by retiring the first 14 batters he faced. He pitched a season-high seven innings and struck out 11. However, his impressive performance wasn’t enough to prevent the Yankees from suffering a 5-3 loss to the Pirates after 10 innings at home.
The Yankees have managed only one run across the last two games in which Cole has pitched, bringing their record in his starts to 4-7 this season. Cole, now at 3-5 with a 3.92 ERA, hasn’t won a game in his last six starts and was left with a no-decision on Wednesday after allowing three runs on four hits (including two home runs) while the Yankees were unable to score.
“I thought Gerrit was really good,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone remarked. “Everything worked for him—slider, curveball, changeup. He was efficient. I just wish he could’ve benefited from a bit more offensive support; that would have been great.”
“I think he’s in really good shape and getting his legs back under him,” he added.
After coming back from Tommy John surgery two months ago, Cole had moments where he looked untouchable, reminiscent of his no-hitter during the 2024 World Series when he struck out eight and was on track for a perfect game against the team that drafted him first overall in 2011.
But, much like that infamous Game 5 against the Dodgers, Cole’s solid start began to unravel in the fifth inning when Nick Gonzalez hit a two-out single, followed by a two-run home run from Jacob Gonzalez.
Gonzalez added a solo homer in the seventh, putting the Pirates ahead 3-0. That marked the 11th home run Cole has given up in his last nine starts.
“I felt like I gave him a chance, but perhaps I got a bit too close,” Cole explained about the first home run. “Regarding the second one, Gonzalez made good contact on a challenging fastball on a 1-0 count. Being aggressive is key, but, yeah, sometimes that leads to mistakes.”
Cole achieved a career-high 21 swings and misses during this game; it’s also the most strikeouts he has recorded since August 2023. This was his franchise-high 29th game with double-digit strikeouts, and he’s now had 24 starts with at least 10 strikeouts and no walks—fifth in MLB history.
“It was definitely a good step forward,” Cole said. “All things considered, we’ve been solid this year. Still, we’re always tweaking things to aim for a bit more improvement.”
