Gerrit Cole knew there would be eyes on him when he took the mound in the Yankees’ 6-5 loss to the Royals on Tuesday night at Yankee Stadium. He had inadvertently become the face of Major League Baseball’s renewed enforcement of the rules prohibiting “sticky stuff.”

On Sunday morning -- given the knowledge of the Commissioner’s Office’s decision that Rules 3.01 and 6.02(c) and (d) would be enforced in earnest starting Monday -- Yankees manager Aaron Boone said the attention on Cole had been “unfair,” though he understood it because of the 30-year-old’s status as one of the game’s best pitchers. For his part, Cole, when asked if he thought he would be targeted for inspection, said: “I don’t have any expectations in terms of that, no.”

As it turned out, when Cole walked off the mound after his opening frame Tuesday, he looked around as if he were waiting for the umpires to approach him. But no one did. Next inning, same situation.

The long-awaited inspection finally happened after Cole’s third inning of action. Glove, check. Cap, check. Seconds later, Cole was on his way to the dugout. Back to business for the Yankees’ ace.

Cole delivered seven strong innings on 108 pitches, allowing two runs on three hits and three walks while striking out six -- including the last batter he faced on a 100 mph fastball. He retired nine consecutive Royals from the fourth through the sixth innings, after giving up a game-tying homer to recent callup Ryan O’Hearn.

“[He] was good, man. Finished really strong, too,” Boone said after the game. “I thought he pitched the way he wanted to, especially in that last inning where he walked a couple guys. I think he just wasn’t gonna get beat with certain pitches in that spot. And then, he had a little bit left in the tank obviously for [Nicky] Lopez there at the end -- really finished him off with some great fastballs.”

Though Cole was not in line to earn the victory when he exited the contest, Luke Voit -- making his return from the injured list -- helped the Yankees rally for a go-ahead run in the seventh that would have changed that.

Voit smacked a fly ball deep to left field that looked destined to be his second homer of the game. On replay review, the hit was left as a triple. Tyler Wade entered as a pinch-runner for Voit and almost immediately scored the go-ahead run on a wild pitch by Jake Brentz.

It was the second key contribution on the night for Voit, who was “locked in from the get-go,” per Boone. Voit, who had not faced Major League pitching since May 25, stepped into the batter’s box for the first time at a full-capacity Yankee Stadium in 2021, then smacked a solo homer a Statcast-projected 423 feet to left field on the first pitch he saw.

“[I was] ready to go from pitch one. It felt amazing,” Voit said. “I’m always trying to do damage. But obviously, got a hanging breaking ball -- you gotta do that with hanging breaking balls. Can’t miss those.”

It was then up to Jonathan Loaisiga, arguably New York’s most reliable reliever this season, to shut down the Royals in the eighth. He entered Tuesday on a career-long scoreless-inning streak of 14 1/3 frames, with seven wins to his name -- the third-highest mark in the American League, behind only Cole and Cleveland’s Aaron Civale.

But Loaisiga gave up a four-run frame on four singles and a double -- all on his signature sinker -- while recording only two outs.

“Frustrating night for me. I lost the game,” Loaisiga said through an interpreter. “Gerrit Cole threw a great game, and I lost that for him. ... My sinker wasn’t moving the way I would like it to move; it was staying more in the zone. ... It’s tough when your best pitch is not working the way you want it.”

It didn’t have to be such a close affair, however, as the Yankees’ offense passed up several opportunities to break the game open. New York went 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position and stranded 13 men on base.

The Yankees, who had come from behind to win six of their last seven games, attempted to mount another late surprise -- led by DJ LeMahieu’s two-run homer in the home half of the eighth. But unlike their starter, they didn’t have enough gas left in the tank at the end.

“He’s a great pitcher with great stuff, great delivery, all kinds of weapons. So he’ll navigate this,” Boone said. “I think he’s showing how good of a pitcher he is.”