AP Photo/Eric Christian Smith
Making his first start at Minute Maid Park as a member of the New York Yankees, Gerrit Cole apparently didn’t want to be taken out of Saturday’s game against the Houston Astros.
Cole was seen on television cameras yelling “I ain’t leaving,” among other things, at Yankees manager Aaron Boone in the bottom of the ninth inning:
Speaking to reporters after the game, Cole explained he “said the f-word a lot and I kind of just blacked out.”
With the Yankees clinging to a 1-0 lead, Cole gave up a leadoff single to Jose Altuve on his first pitch of the ninth inning. The four-time All-Star’s 112 pitches over the first eight innings was more than he made in any start so far this season.
He got Michael Brantley to fly out after a 10-pitch at-bat, followed by a strikeout of Yuli Gurriel. Cole’s pleading with Boone worked, as he remained in the game and struck out Yordan Alvarez on three pitches to secure the win.
The final strike to Alvarez was a 99.1 mph fastball that the Astros designated hitter swung through.
The 129 pitches thrown by Cole set a new career high. He allowed just three hits and struck out 12 against a Houston offense that entered Saturday leading MLB in batting average (.270), on-base percentage (.345), OPS (.785) and runs scored (488).
Since losing the first game of a doubleheader to the New York Mets on July 4 that dropped their record to 41-41, the Yankees have won five of their past six games. They will go for a three-game series sweep of the Astros on Sunday.
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