The Boston Red Sox have Gerrit Cole completely figured out.
Taking on the New York Yankees for the second of three games in a crucial weekend clash in The Bronx, Cole took the mound and flopped. The Red Sox tortured Cole for a nightmarish four innings of work, tagging the right-hander for six runs off seven hits, including two home runs, en route to an 8-1 Boston win — its second victory against the starter this season.
Afterward, Cole didn’t have much to say beyond what was seen at Yankee Stadium.
“They had a good day,” Cole told reporters, as seen on YES Network’s postgame coverage. “They are major league quality hitters and they put together some excellent at-bats. I believe it started with (Adam) Duvall, base hit to left. It somehow got to the (Pablo) Reyes at-bat where he just battled, battled, battled. Fouled off a lot of good pitches and took a lot of good pitches. And yeah, (Luis) Urías just demolished a slider, just right there on the corner, down and away — beautiful pitch, just a better swing.”
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Cole added: “I don’t recall experiencing anything like this before in my career.”
None of this is new for Cole, especially since putting on a Yankees uniform in 2020. In fact, Boston rallying around Cole has quickly become the norm in recent history when going through the numbers.
Cole has a 5-4 record with a 5.16 ERA in 68 innings pitched against the Red Sox, with the Yankees, through 12 starts made. Boston has also taken Cole yard at least once in 11 of those 12 outings. That trend, like New York’s 2023 campaign, continues to spoil miserably.
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Unlike the Red Sox, the Yankees don’t have much left to play for.
Boston moved to 2.5 games out of an American League wild-card spot after Saturday’s victory, while New York sits at rock bottom in the AL East with seven straight losses. Not much of a rivalry with the Red Sox 7-1 versus the Yankees this season either.
Featured image via Wendell Cruz/USA TODAY Sports Images
