The Yankees lost the ALCS Game 3 and are staring at elimination after a disastrous 5-0 humiliation. Analysts and fans have begun to blame manager Aaron Boone. Also, starting pitcher Gerrit Cole was unhappy after Boone replaced him in the sixth inning when bases were loaded.
On Saturday, Gerrit Cole did a great job. He threw 96 pitches and kept the Yankees in contention for the American League Championship Series. Considering their performance this season and through the series, the Houston Astros were the best team right now. Against them, his seven strikeouts and three earned runs were good in such a scenario, and a manager will gladly take a night like that in a playoff game. But for Cole, the night came down to just a few pitches.
Cole’s night ended with a bit of light drama. The Yankees went to the mound to talk to him after Tucker walked, and when Yuli Gurriel’s single put runners on all bases, a second one made it necessary to take him out of the game.
Before crossing the first base line, manager Aaron Boone took a short break, which led to the official mound visit that made Gerrit Cole leave the game. Boone said that he took a break to give closer Lou Trivino more time to get ready.
When asked about the episode, Gerrit Cole said:
“I wasn’t ready to come out but as far as I know, that’s what the second trip is. We did two and a half wrong things tonight,”
Michael Kay and his YES commentators also vented their ire calling it a wrong step by the manager.
Gerrit Cole then talked about Alex Bregman’s leadoff double off his throw. He also talked about the walk to Kyle Tucker right after that, as well as Chas McCormick’s hit.
“The changeup to Bregman that he hit for the double was supposed to be a ball,” Cole explained, “McCormick’s leaked a little more over the plate than we wanted to, and I would have liked the [3-2] curveball to Tucker to be a little more competitive.”
When asked what makes Houston such a difficult task, Gerrit Cole provided an explanation that essentially summarizes the current differences between the Yankees and Astros. He told, “Their skill at making good throws.”
Gerrit Cole’s team is now in a place where the odds have always been against them because of the tough loss. In the history of the major leagues, 39 teams have been down 0-3 in a postseason series. The 2004 Red Sox are the only team to come back and win since then. Cole was pretty angry when he talked to the press after Game 3 because he knew this.
“I’m just about as angry as you can get,” he said.
Gerrit Cole’s anger comes from the fact that his team is behind 0-3. The Astros’ batters have a special way of getting under a pitcher’s skin by doing the opposite of everything they try to do. Sometimes, they just go along with what the pitcher is doing and do it better. Cole also used a talking point that Boone and Luis Severino used during this series.
He said that the Astros are getting lucky with batted balls, which Boone and Severino have also said.
“We threw one pitch right on the edge after another all night, and they hit the pitcher’s pitches with really good, strong swings,” Cole said, “They definitely had some luck on their side, especially in right field. “That’s what they did all night, from top to bottom.”
Pitching against batters who have been hitting like zombies all series is also not easy for a pitcher. In the first three ALCS games, Gerrit Cole, Severino, and Jameson Taillon have all had to do this. Cole said they knew the batters would have a hard time against Houston and that the starters would have to do everything they could to help a Yankee offense that is way down.
On Saturday, the Yankee fans started leaving Yankee Stadium after the Astros scored three runs in the sixth inning. By the end of the game, all the noise coming from the seats was anger. Cole was directly asked if he thinks that the Bronx faithful has given up on the 2022 Yankees or if he has seen a large number of them leave. “I didn’t know that,” said the pitcher.
Was Boone right in replacing Gerrit Cole in the sixth?
