Cole's dominant 10-K outing wasted in Yankees' Game 2 loss

NEW YORK -- Right-hander Gerrit Cole pitched the second game of a doubleheader against the Rangers on Saturday evening at Yankee Stadium, and he arguably pitched his best game of the season. He allowed one run in 5 1/3 innings and struck out a season-high 10 batters.

After Cole left the game in the sixth inning with the score tied at 1, Luke Weaver entered the game and had a tough time getting outs. It proved costly in New York’s 9-4 loss, resulting in a doubleheader split after the Yankees won Game 1, 8-0.

When Cole left the game, he had reached his 90-pitch limit, including 63 strikes. Cole knew the team was going to be easy on him after he recently missed a turn against the Phillies because of fatigue and a stomach bug.

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Once Cole left, the game turned on New York in the sixth. With runners on first and second and one out, Leody Taveras hit a blooper that a diving right fielder Juan Soto was unable to catch. However, there was still enough time to force out Nathaniel Lowe at third after Lowe had to wait to see if Soto would make the catch. The throw arrived in plenty of time to get Lowe, but third baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. didn’t realize it was a force play and tagged Lowe instead of stepping on the bag.

Chisholm thought Soto had caught the ball, making it a tag-up situation.

“I thought they called it a catch, so I was looking for the double play,” Chisholm said.

Umpire David Arrieta actually called Lowe out, but the play was later overturned on a Rangers challenge, and Lowe was called safe to load the bases.

Carson Kelly then drew a walk that scored Lowe. Adolis García scored the second run of the inning on a sacrifice fly by Josh Smith. Corey Seager made it ugly by hitting a three-run homer, his first at Yankee Stadium.

“It was one of those days. It happens,” manager Aaron Boone said about Weaver. “He has been so good for us, obviously. It wasn’t his day. I don’t think he had the right feel for the changeup. It was just one of those days where they got him. What he has meant to our ‘pen, it’s going to happen at different times over the course of the year.”

Weaver called the outing devastating because it spoiled Cole’s great start.

“The biggest thing was the four-pitch walk [to Kelly]. To Seager, I thought I got the ball up and in. He is just a really good hitter,” Weaver said. “It’s just one that you write up and you wish it went differently, but this game finds a way to humble you sometimes. Gerrit did such a great job. It hurts, and you feel a little shell-shocked from it. You have to keep pushing forward knowing there is another game tomorrow.”

When it was time to take Weaver out of the game, the right-hander heard boos from the Yankees faithful. But they might have been directed at Boone for pulling Cole.

“It’s encouraging to see him go out and throw the ball the way he did today,” Boone said about Cole. “We feel like we are building some good steam going forward.”

Besides the 10 strikeouts, Cole showed he could get out of trouble in the fourth. The first three hitters he faced reached base, capped by an RBI single from García, but Cole struck out the next three hitters to end the threat. It was Cole’s knuckle curve that got him out of trouble.

“I felt good today, and we brought out a lot of good offerings today,” Cole said. “I was able to get some swing and miss inside the strike zone. … The knuckle curve has been the most consistent pitch so far this year. Being able to actually locate it for strikes and balls and change some speeds -- throw a little bit harder, throw a little bit slower -- it has stayed relatively consistent every time we’ve been out.”