Yes, it was another loss – to the Rays, no less. Again.
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But if you zoom out from the workaday parts of Rays 4, Yankees 2 on Friday night at the Stadium, there’s gold in the fact that Gerrit Cole looked so good in his first big league outing since Game 5 of the 2024 World Series.
Because if these Yankees are going to reassert themselves in the AL East race, their rotation figures to be a major factor. And if Cole can be his old self, they’ll doubtless make a push.
“We’re capable of big things,” Aaron Boone said, referring specifically to his starting rotation. “And it’s great to have our ace back in the mix.”
Frankly, the Yanks needed the boost, even if one night’s result didn’t turn things around immediately. Following Friday night, the Yankees had lost three straight games and 10 of their last 14. Tampa Bay has pushed its division lead to 5.5 games on the Yankees (seven in the loss column).
Aaron Judge is struggling – he’s 0-for-his-last-15 – and while the Yankees had 11 hits Friday and mustered 12 at-bats with runners in scoring position, they only scored two runs. Boone, though, noted that there were several hard-hit balls throughout the lineup, including a long drive to the warning track by Judge that ended the game, that left him thinking “this wasn’t the last couple of nights” with his sputtering offense.
Cole, meanwhile, delivered six shutout innings, allowing just two singles, and seemed delighted by the results in his first game in 569 days. A reporter asked how close the performance was to his “full self,” and Cole, who is coming back from Tommy John surgery, responded like this:
“You know, it’s pretty close.”
Added catcher Austin Wells: “Both fastballs look great. All the stuff was moving.”
Cole had only two strikeouts, a far cry from the nights he’s been utterly dominant in his wondrous career. But he and Boone attributed it partly to Tampa Bay’s overt aggression and their outsized ability to make contact. That helped Cole to some brief innings, including a four-pitch 1-2-3 fourth.
“The stuff I was looking at (Friday), moving forward, I think there’ll be nights when the swing-and-miss is there,” Boone said.
And one of the strikeouts was, perhaps, a harbinger of whiffs to come, according to Boone. Cole caught Rays cleanup hitter Yandy Díaz looking at a 97.2 mile-per-hour four-seamer to end the first inning. “The freeze of Yandy was really nice,” Boone said.
Overall, Cole threw 72 pitches and there was no thought of pushing him for more, even with the recent struggles of the Yankee bullpen. “He was done at that point,” Boone said. “He was great.”
“I feel like that was a smart play,” Cole said of when he exited. “You know, it may seem easy, but it was a high-pressure, tough game.”
The Rays tested Cole early by getting their first two batters of the game on base. Cole picked off the speedy Chandler Simpson, which probably helped settle any nerves that may have bloomed in the first inning. Boone praised Cole for the way the pitcher managed the Rays’ aggressive style.
Command is generally the last skill item to fully return for pitchers. Cole walked three Friday night and it was clear that a couple of four-ball free passes irked him.
“I might have to deal with some of that here,” Cole said.
Whatever tweaks he may have to make, the night, as a whole, was a success for him. He noted that his sons were thrilled for his comeback. He called the whole experience of being back “lovely” and that seems like a nice state to land in after all the ups and downs of surgery and rehab.
Now, of course, the Yankees have to start playing better. Over the long season, having Cole back and at this level – in start one – will help.
But the Yanks need to perform immediately against the Rays, too. Tampa Bay is 4-0 against the Yankees so far this season. You might remember a theme of the Yanks’ 2025 season was their inability to beat the Blue Jays, who won the division on a tiebreaker and got home-field advantage against the Yankees in the playoffs. Ultimately, Toronto eliminated the Yanks in the playoffs.
They can’t afford a repeat scenario with another division rival this year. The teams are close – the Rays have won four games against the Yankees by a total of six runs.
“Obviously,” Boone said, “we got to find a way to beat that team.”