NEW YORK — Gerrit Cole left Tuesday night’s game in the fourth inning with an apparent right hand injury. The ace had just given up a sacrifice fly to Reese McGuire with two outs when he signaled to the dugout for the trainer.
Cole seemed to be clenching his hand during the play and Yankees manager Aaron Boone and the trainer went out to the mound and looked at the right hand as Cole attempted to grip the ball. He walked off slowly with the trainer and was replaced by rookie Albert Abreu.
The Yankees are in the fight for their playoff lives with 25 games left. Cole, the front runner for the American League Cy Young award, had good velocity. His fastball touched 100 miles an hour, but he was struggling with command.
Cole left having allowed three earned runs — including a solo shot by Blue Jays designated hitter Alejandro Kirk — on five hits and two walks. He struck out two.
