What was going through Gerrit Cole’s mind as he walked off the mound to close out another brief and inefficient start?
“Four-letter words,” Cole said bluntly after Clarke Schmidt and the bullpen bailed him out with a 4-2 win in Detroit on Tuesday night.
Cole, still searching for his first quality start of the season, couldn’t find the plate against a struggling Tigers offense without Javy Baez, tying a career high with five walks while failing to make it out of the second inning.
“Certainly never had anything like that in my career before, but it’s not something that we can’t get through,” Cole said.
“I still made good pitches in the second inning, but when I needed to make one, I didn’t make it.”
Cole looked fine in the first, striking out the side around one walk. But he lost the plate in the second, and after loading the bases again with two outs and two runs already across, Aaron Boone went to the bullpen.
“I always think I can get it done,” Cole said. “A dotted fastball gets us a double play, we might be in business. But just seemed like it was a foul ball or it was a ball. There were some good swings and misses and some good pitches, but like I said, when push came to shove, just didn’t make the pitch.”
Cole was rocked in the first inning of Opening Day against the Red Sox, when he appeared to be frustrated with how long the pregame ceremonies were taking before he could take the mound. Tuesday night saw cold temperatures in Detroit, but Cole wasn’t making any excuses.
“It was certainly cold, and a long first inning and long second inning, but it’s not something I haven’t dealt with in my career,” Cole said.
Still, Tuesday’s start stung more than his last two disappointing outings to begin the 2022 season.
“This game is obviously pretty disappointing,” Cole said. “The last game, Vlad had a great night and the game before, Opening Day, that’s kind of uncharted territory for a lot of people in the league with that spring training…I don’t quite know how to answer that. I’m pretty disappointed right now. That’s kind of all I got.”
Follow Ryan Chichester on Twitter: @ryanchichester1
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