The Yankees have had more than their share of tough losses this season, but Tuesday night may be the worst. Not only did they drop their fourth-straight game in the stretch run with a 5-1 loss to the Blue Jays at the Stadium, but they may have lost their ace for some time.
Gerrit Cole left Tuesday night’s game in the fourth inning with what the team announced as “left hamstring tightness.” The righthander had just given up a sacrifice fly to Reese McGuire with two outs when he signaled to the dugout for help. Yankee manager Aaron Boone and a trainer went out to the mound. They spoke briefly before he walked off slowly with the trainer and was replaced by rookie Albert Abreu.
The small post-Labor Day, weeknight crowd almost immediately deflated.
The Yankees (78-60) are in the fight for their playoff life with 24 games left and they could be without their best big-game pitcher for a portion of the final stretch.
Cole, the front runner for the American League Cy Young, did not look right from the start. His second pitch of the night sailed to the backstop, but he had good velocity and he battled. His fastball touched 100 miles an hour, it was his command that was bothering him.
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.
In a stretch of 20 straight games, the Bombers’ bullpen was pushed into extra work with Cole’s early departure. Abreu gave up a home run to Marcus Semien in the fifth and Kirk had his second homer of the night off Clay Holmes.
The offense was once again unable to pick the Yankees up and carry them.
The Bombers scored a run on Anthony Rizzo’s single driving in Andrew Velazquez in the third inning, snapping a 14-inning scoreless drought.
Long Island native, and former Mets pitcher, Steven Matz held the Yankees off for six innings allowing one run on seven hits (all singles). He did not walk a batter and struck out six.
The Yankees went into Tuesday night’s game having lost three straight and losing a grip on their playoff lives. The Blue Jays are surging back into the mix for a Wild Card spot, now just 2.5 games behind the Bombers, who hold a half-game lead on the Red Sox for the top of two spots.
The Yankees offense has been a concern since they had their 13-game winning streak snapped in Oakland. In that winning streak last month, the Bombers hit .256/.345/.495 with 25 home runs and averaged 5.77 runs per game. In the 10 games since then, the Yankees lineup has gone 67-for-326 (.205) with 17 extra-base hits, including nine home runs. They are averaging 2.3 runs per game in this streak.
The Yankees have not had an extra-base hit since Sunday when Gary Sanchez crushed a seventh-inning home run.
The only highlight in that stretch had been Cole, who went out Wednesday and stopped a four-game Yankees losing streak with a brilliant performance in Anaheim. In the ballpark he grew up going to games in and with family and friends watching, Cole struck out 15 and did not walk a batter in the Yankees 4-1 win.
Cole has had a remarkable season, starting out as the hottest pitcher in the game and then struggling when the league suddenly cracked down on foreign substances that pitchers used to get better grips on the ball and create greater spin. Cole took the lumps on the field and as the face of the issue, but adjusted and was building a case for the Cy Young when he tested positive for COVID-19, missing one start.
He was back on track, having won his last four starts, when he left the game Tuesday night.
Cole is second in the American League in ERA (2.78) to the Blue Jays’ Robbie Ray, tied for the lead in the majors with Zack Wheeler for the most strikeouts (217) and leads the AL in WHIP (0.99).
