It was a gorgeous first inning for the Yankees, as Gerrit Cole made history by striking out the side and three singles produced a 1-0 lead over the Rangers.
From there, it wasn’t so pretty. Cole broke the four-day-old MLB record for most consecutive strikeouts with a walk at 61, but he was catching too much of the plate Monday night. He gave up five runs on five hits, including two homers, and the Yankees lost 5-2 to the Rangers.
When Joey Gallo walked to break Cole’s record streak, ball four skipped past Kyle Higashioka and Gallo sprinted to first base before tripping on the bag and wiping out. It was Cole’s first walk since April 12.
It was rare comic relief in a sluggish loss for the Yankees, who fell to 22-19 with their second straight loss.
The Rangers’ Adolis Garcia and Willie Calhoun hit solo shots off Cole in the second and fifth innings, respectively.
Cole gave up five runs on seven hits in five innings in the loss, which inched his ERA just above 2.00.
His 26-1 strikeout/walk ratio this season was by far the major league lead heading into Monday night’s game, but the homers that were a problem in his first season in pinstripes resurfaced Monday night. He had only given up three heading into Monday night’s game, but he gave up the third-most in baseball last year.
Curiously, Cole appeared done after the fifth inning, chatting with Aaron Boone and heading down the dugout steps. But he came out for the sixth, gave up a single to Garcia, and was promptly pulled.
Albert Abreu kept the Bombers in the game with three no-hit, shutout innings behind Cole, walking two and shutting out four.
Garcia’s homer was his 11th of the year, putting him just two behind Shohei Ohtani for the major league lead.
The Yankees were just what the slumping Rangers ordered. Texas starter Jordan Lyles, who had allowed 20 runs in his last 22.2 innings, gave up just one run on six hits in six innings Monday night. The win snapped a six-game losing streak for the Rangers, who were swept twice on a road trip against the Giants and Astros.
Last year’s MLB home run leader, Luke Voit, hit his first homer of the season in the eighth inning, a 414-foot no-doubt bomb to the second level of left field seats.
The Yankees’ bats were quiet Monday night, but they did produce another first. Brett Gardner hit a triple in the fourth inning, the team’s first of the season. Every other team in baseball had at least one.
