Yankees Ace Gerrit Cole Jokes After Throwing Over Batter’s Head

Yankees starter Gerrit Cole won a battle of gamesmanship against José Caballero on Tuesday night in the Bronx.

In the seventh inning of the series opener between New York and Seattle, Caballero seemingly tried to mess with Cole's psyche on back-to-back pitches to start the at-bat. The Mariners second baseman first theatrically reacted to a called strike and then dramatically flipped his bat after a foul ball.

Instead of trying to punch Caballero out with a third consecutive strike, Cole wasted a pitch by firing a ball well over the 26-year-old's head. The five-time All-Star ultimately earned the last laugh by striking out Caballero to end the seventh inning and preserve the Yankees' two-run lead.

After the game, Cole joked about his intentional air-mail.

"The high fastball can be effective," the veteran right-hander told reporters, per the New York Post.

Caballero wasn't the only Mariner to feel the wrath of Cole in that sequence either. After the ace's seventh of eight strikeouts on the night, Cole wagged his finger toward Seattle's dugout. And following New York's 3-1 win, the 11th-year pro revealed the motivation behind the tactic.

"Their manager had some choice words for me coming off the field, and he was wagging his finger at me, so I wagged my finger at him," Cole told reporters.

Time will tell if any tension carries over to the middle game between the Yankees and the Mariners. First pitch from Yankee Stadium on Wednesday night is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. ET.