In a win-or-go-home Wild-Card game, the Yankees laid an egg both pitching and at the dish. What’s next following a disappointing season?
When the Yankees needed him most, he vanished.
After earning a $324 million paycheck from the Yankees in December of 2019, Gerrit Cole was expected to be the ace the Bombers could depend on since the prime days of C.C. Sabathia. However, in one of his biggest starts so far since joining the Yanks, Cole laid a massive egg in the AL Wildcard game against the Boston Red Sox, who defeated the Yankees 6-2 on Tuesday night.
Cole, Pitching Struggles
Cole went just 2+ innings, allowing three runs on four this and walking two. He allowed home runs to both Xander Bogaerts and Kyle Schwarber. He allowed at least one baserunner in each of the three innings he pitched, and allowed the next two guys to reach on an infield single and a walk following the Schwarber home run, before Cole was eventually pulled for reliever Clay Holmes.
Once Cole was pulled, the pitching settled down. Holmes threw two clean innings, while Luis Severino, coming in out of the bullpen, pitched 1.1 innings and surrendered a run. Jonathan Loaisiga got into trouble in the seventh inning, who was then replaced by Chad Green. Green allowed two of Loaisiga’s runners to score.
Yankees, Offense Look Lifeless
The Yankees only scored two runs in the entire game, both thanks to solo home runs by Anthony Rizzo and Giancarlo Stanton. Rizzo’s blast came in the 6th down 3-0, while Stanton’s homer made it a 6-2 game in the 9th. Stanton was the only player to record more than one hit, as he hit two balls off the monster in left-center, one of which was followed immediately by Aaron Judge getting thrown out at home on a questionable send by third base coach Phil Nevin.
Among other players to record a hit besides Stanton and Rizzo were Judge and Gio Urshela. The Yankees finished the game with six hits total and never had more than one guy on base in any inning.
What’s Next?
After a disappointing finish to a pretty disappointing season, many fans wonder if Aaron Boone’s job is safe for the Winter. As you can imagine, after their earliest postseason exit since 2016 (when the Yankees missed the playoffs entirely), the Bombers and the guys in charge are going to want to make moves that’ll have the team bounce back well in 2022.
However, the postseason is just getting started, so most transactions will have to wait. It will be interesting, however, if the Yanks do opt to move on from their manager that they’ve had tenured since 2018, who’s contract is currently expired. It will also be intriguing to see how Gerrit Cole responds following his lackluster end to the season, and if that carries over into next Summer.