Gerrit Cole had some trouble with the Rays once again, as the Yankees fell, 9-2, in the final game of the series on Thursday afternoon at Yankee Stadium.
Takeaways from the game
1) Cole was laboring all day for New York, as he just didn’t seem to have his normal elite stuff on the bump. While the home plate umpire wasn’t helping with strike calls — it’s what led Aaron Boone to get ejected later in the game — Cole’s fastball command wasn’t what it usually was. He was leaving that and other pitches in the middle of the plate, and the Rays capitalized. Austin Meadows took a 1-2 changeup deep to give the Rays a 2-1 lead. Then, in the top of the fifth, the Rays put together a three spot that took Cole out of the game. Overall, he tied his season high with five earned runs allowed on five hits and two walks with seven strikeouts.
2) Brett Gardner doesn’t have to search for his first homer of the season anymore, taking Ryan Yarbrough deep to right center field to give the Yanks a 1-0 lead. He went 2-for-3 with an RBI on the day
3) In the top of the fourth inning, Aaron Judge and Gio Urshela got a good rally going with back-to-back hits that gave the Yanks a second-and-third opportunity with no outs. But New York couldn’t get one run across the board with Rougned Odor popping out in foul territory, Clint Frazier striking out during a very questionable at-bat, and Miguel Andujar striking out as well. From there, the Yanks couldn’t get any more life with their bats.
4) But Andujar did lift a Yarbrough pitch over the left field fence in the bottom of the seventh inning for his third homer of the season. Andujar has been hitting well recently, while playing in the outfield since he was recalled from Triple-A.
5) Yarbrough completed his first career complete game to save some bullpen arms for Tampa.
Highlights
What’s Next
The Yankees welcome the Boston Red Sox for the first time this season on Friday at 7:05 p.m.