The New York Yankees desperately needed Gerrit Cole to come through on Sunday. They had fallen out of the second Wild Card spot, and with the Red Sox, Blue Jays, and A’s playing well recently, the Yankees needed to rack up victories to keep pace. With their ace on the mound, and facing an Indians club that is essentially playing out the string, they had to figure that they would be in a good place.
Instead, Cole struggled mightily. Meanwhile, the Blue Jays and Red Sox were handily winning their games, prompting an understandable reaction when the Yankees’ ace looked at the scoreboard.
Here's Gerrit Cole reacting to the Blue Jays' 5-0 lead. (Young children should watch this on mute.) pic.twitter.com/NnvjGu8uLY
— Minor Leaguer (@Minor_Leaguer) September 19, 2021
Gerrit Cole sums up thoughts of New York Yankees fans
The day did not get much better for Cole. Although he struck out seven batters in his 5.2 innings, he also allowed seven runs on ten hits and a walk. The Yankees desperately needed a much better outing than that from their ace.
It is hard to blame Cole for the Yankees’ issues this year. He has been well worth the money as their ace, posting a 2.75 ERA and a 1.002 WHiP in his 163.2 innings prior to Sunday. However, with a myriad of injuries to their rotation, and Nestor Cortes Jr. as the only other starter that the Yankees can count on, Cole’s margin for error is razor thin with the Yankees hoping to reach the postseason.
That did not stop the Yankees faithful from letting Cole hear it due to his rough start. He was booed as he came off the mound after his rough outing despite the fact that he is likely the only reason why this team is even sniffing a playoff berth right now. Clearly, this was not the best day for Cole.
While his rough outing could not have come at a worse time, it is hardly fair to blame Cole. Gary Sanchez dropping a popup in the fifth inning certainly did not help matters. Cole was also clearly not quite right on the mound as he appeared to be battling some sort of malady. Unfortunately for the Yankees, that does not change the end result.
Gerrit Cole had a rough outing for the New York Yankees on Sunday. His reaction when he saw the scoreboard summed up the fans’ feelings as well.