Inside The Pinstripes

Gerrit Cole Evaluates Poor Performance, Giving Up Five Home Runs Against Twins

Cole gave up three home runs in a row to start the bottom of the first inning, ending up with seven runs allowed over 2.1 frames.

Max Goodman

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MINNEAPOLIS — After two uncharacteristic performances from key members of the Yankees' starting rotation, New York turned to their ace in the rubber match of a three-game set with the Twins on Thursday night.

Rather than shutting Minnesota's lineup down, however, Gerrit Cole delivered one of the worst outings of his Yankees career.

Not only did the Twins crush back-to-back-to-back home runs to start the bottom of the first off Cole—just the seventh time that's happened since 1900—but the Twins tagged the right-hander for a total of seven earned runs. It was just the seventh time Cole has given up seven-plus runs, the second-shortest start of his career.

Cole finished with five home runs allowed over just 2.1 innings, departing in the third after permitting his eighth hit of the night.

New York ended up winning on Thursday night, coming back on offense after Cole's departure. The right-hander said after the game that the end result makes his poor performance sting a little less, but it's still a frustrating night.

"That was a struggle," Cole said. "I mean, stuff was just over the middle of the plate. Pitch after pitch. Credit to them, they got their A-swings on pitches that they should hit and obviously they're super talented. They have really good hitters, but boy, that was tough. I mean, just really poor execution and just not great stuff. Never really found a way to try to make it any better."

Digesting his outing a little further, Cole explained that his execution was poor. His slider didn't bite and his cutter kept backing up over the middle. For any pitcher, especially against a high-octane lineup like the Twins, it's hard to get away with that type of poor performance.

"The mistakes he was making, they were hitting out of the ballpark," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. "I think it was just a night where he was making some mistakes and didn't get away with them with singles or base hits or just missed. It was, they were on him. Credit to them. They were ready and didn't miss their pitch."

Entering play on Thursday night, Cole was 5-1 with a 2.03 ERA in his previous eight starts after pitching to the tune of a 6.35 ERA in his first three outings of the year. Plus, Cole had impeccable numbers in his career against the Twins, surrendering just two earned runs over 19 innings (0.95 ERA) in three starts against Minnesota.

Even if the odds were seemingly in Cole's favor as he jogged out to the mound, especially with an early 1-0 lead, it didn't take long before Minnesota started mashing. In fact, it took basically no time at all.

On Cole's fifth pitch of the game, first baseman Luis Arráez hit a solo home run to right center field, just his second long ball of the season. Center fielder Byron Buxton sent Cole's very next pitch to the third deck in left, a 422-foot moonshot. Then, shortstop Carlos Correa made it three homers a row with a missile over the wall in left on the second pitch of his at-bat.

Cole got out of the inning unscathed by striking out the final three batters he faced, but the damage was already done. Minnesota tacked on three more in the bottom of the second on another Buxton homer before left fielder Trevor Larnach sent a tape-measure shot high into the second deck in right with one out in the third. 

Even down four runs, with the bullpen coming in for what was poised to be a long night, the Yankees never quit. Minnesota let the Yankees hang around and while New York's 'pen threw up zeros, the bats battled back.

The Yankees responded with seven unanswered runs. Right fielder Joey Gallo whacked two home runs in Thursday's win, first baseman DJ LeMahieu clubbed the 100th long ball of his career and left fielder Aaron Hicks hit his first homer since April 12, driving in a total of three runs.

A combination of five pitchers out of the bullpen—Lucas Luetge, Miguel Castro, Wandy Peralta, Michael King and Clay Holmes—pitched 6.2 scoreless innings, allowing just one hit in the process. 

"Outside of my performance, this was a really special night for the club. We did a good job," Cole said.

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Max Goodman
MAX GOODMAN

Max Goodman covers the New York Yankees for Sports Illustrated and FanNation. Goodman has been on the Yankees beat for three seasons. He is also the publisher of Sports Illustrated and FanNation's Jets site, Jets Country. Before starting Inside The Pinstripes, Goodman attended Northwestern University and the Medill School of Journalism. He earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Broadcast Journalism and Master’s Degree in Sports Media, graduating in 2019. At school, Goodman was an anchor and reporter with NNN SportsNight and played on the club baseball team. While at Northwestern, Goodman interned with MLB.com as an associate reporter covering the Miami Marlins. He also interned with ESPN, working as an associate reporter on Mike Greenberg's Get Up. Goodman is from New York City. He grew up in Hell's Kitchen. Follow Goodman on Twitter @MaxTGoodman. You can connect with him via email by reaching out at maxgoodmansports@gmail.com.

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