Gerrit Cole’s brilliance can sometimes make it easy for someone to take it for granted. He hit eight Blue Jays on the first day, but allowed a few runs in 5.1 overs, so that was just an adequate outing. Hell, the man himself slammed the frustration bench after leaving the hill. He adheres to a higher standard.
Well, Cole certainly did not destroy equipment after Tuesday night’s game. Facing a less threatening bird-oriented setup, the 30-year-old right-hander was simply overwhelming. He tied his career high in pinstripes by hitting 13 Orioles, which matches his total in the AL Wild Card Game against Cleveland. More importantly, Cole did not walk a single batter and ruled out Baltimore over seven innings en route to a 7-2 Yankees victory.
Cole did have to work from a quick first innings jam caused by a lead single from Cedric Mullins, who stole second and moved to third place on a successful ball by Kyle Higashioka. Casually, Cole beat Trey Mancini and was first aroused by Anthony Santander. Jay Bruce has a nice play to throw Mullins out at the plate, and Ryan Mountcastle erred in ending the frame. No problem.
To his credit shows that Orioles starter Dean Kremer made an even better Houdini performance in the first half of the first turn. He loaded the base on rugby singles from DJ LeMahieu and Aaron Judge, the latter of which knocked his leg off. Kremer stayed in the game, but Brett Gardner walked. He then immediately hit the side and waved Giancarlo Stanton, Gleyber Torres and Clint Frazier in order. Torres went around nail-biting at a low pitch that would have been ball four and Frazier came across three straight attacks, in short: not exactly a banner for the Yankees offense.
Perhaps in a sharp rebuke to the previous framework – and out of fear of his own roster with Rougned Odor now in town – Jay Bruce embarked on a “Yankee Stadium Special” that left New York at 1-0 Het:
Baseball Savant said Bruce’s ride had an expected batting average of 0.220, but hey, if you hit it 354 feet in the direction of the short curb in the right field, there are good things that are likely to happen.
Meanwhile, Cole took on the role. He knocked out the side in the second and third sides and then added another in an easy fourth. Even when the Os got to the base here and there – a double Mancini bloop, a single from Maikel Franco, whatever – there was never much concern that Cole was actually in trouble.
Case-in point: watch as he stranded Mancini for the third time.
Malicious.
Kremer stranded two more runners in the third, but when he came out for the fourth, he lost his command completely. Bruce, Gio Urshela and Higashioka all walked, and O’s skipper, Brandon Hyde, gave him the hook. Adam Plutko comes off the bull and does his job with the first batter, LeMahieu, bouncing in a double play. Achieved a run, but it looks like Baltimore will make another jam on the base go up in smoke.
Judge had different ideas:
The single opposing field increased the Yankees’ lead to 3-0.
That was more than enough for Cole, who steamrolled the Orioles over his last three innings. The bait shot three perfect frames, hitting five more batsmen to increase his total to 13. He was pure hell.
Some people will try to immediately attribute this excellent Cole outing to catching Higashioka rather than Gary Sánchez, but also keep in mind that the Orioles are a much worse team than Toronto. There are a multitude of factors to consider, so although they are obviously a good team and Higashioka does sure to catch starting a whole bunch of Cole, there is no need to shout that he should be linked to the food with Cole at all times. It’s early. Both can catch him.
The Yankees ’attack made up for gilded opportunities with a much-appreciated pile up against the Baltimore bullpen. At the bottom of the seventh, Stanton a cracked 117.1 mph missile from Tyler Wells to the wall of the left field for a double point, and Gardner scored from the first point.
An innings later, Urshela sang with a single game and Higashioka doubled to put two runners in the points standings for Judge. Of course, with Judge at bat, every runner is in a points position – including himself. Yankees legend Wade LeBlanc gave him a bold tone, and the big man destroyed it:
The Yankees took a 7-0 lead, and while losing the exclusion on a ninth inning by Lucas Luetge’s Rio Ruiz, they still got away with the easy W. Similarly, the Bombers have their first winning streak of the season. Everything is going well.
Box count