When Gerrit Cole takes the mound in a do-or-die spot for the Yankees on Tuesday night, he will be looking to change the course of recent history.
Cole did enough for the Yanks the last time he was on the mound at Fenway, allowing three runs, three walks and five hits over six innings in an 8-3 win, but in three appearances in Boston this season, the Yankee ace has allowed 19 hits over 16 innings, while five balls have left the yard.
Recent history as a whole hasn’t been kind to Cole either, as he has pitched to a 6.35 ERA in four starts since injuring his hamstring in early September. Now, the Yanks will need him to be an ace again if they want to survive on the road against their hated rivals.
“I think I'm just going to have to be on top of my game,” Cole told reporters on Monday. “Going to have to locate pitches in big spots. I think, you know, some poor location to some really good hitters got us in a bit of a hole early. So it's going to be a similar situation.
“They have got a lot of good hitters and, you know, we're going to have to make pitches in those situations in order to be successful. So, you know, whether that's making sure you nail the delivery or being in the right mindset to execute the pitch, that's what we've been working on this week, and looking to bring it out tomorrow.”
There likely won’t be nearly as much room for error or a slow start on Tuesday night. Last time Cole was at Fenway, the Bombers gave him a seven-run cushion against Nathan Eovaldi, who will once again oppose Cole on Tuesday. But Eovaldi entered that outing with a 2.01 ERA against the Yankees in 2021, and could return to that form for the Wild Card Game. New York might need the brilliant Cole, the one that looked like the Cy Young favorite through the first half of the season, and the man giving him the ball believes that’s what the Yanks will get.
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“I don't think it's far off at all,” Boone said. “I think the stuff is there. I think going back to the Cleveland game where he struggled, I think he struggled way less than the line suggested. I think in Toronto the other day, you know, they banged him for a couple home runs on a couple of just-missed heaters.
“So I think everything is there for him to put it together tomorrow. It's just about, you know, executing in the right quadrants against a good team.”
Cole has shown his big-game ability for Boone already, allowing just one run with nine strikeouts over 5.1 innings in a decisive game five in last year’s ALDS. They just might need an equally dominant performance on Tuesday, and despite his recent struggles, Cole is ready to rise to the occasion.
“I think because in order to get here, you have to have played well as a group all year,” Cole said. “You know, when you're starting off on this journey eight months ago, you know, the goal is to be able to have the opportunity to play these games. So, you know, you put in hard work, you grind through the ups and downs of the season, and you keep pushing yourself, telling yourself that the opportunity to play here is kind of the carrot at the end of the road.
“So when you're here, it's a validation of all the stuff that you've put in and all the challenges that you've had to overcome. Just not everybody gets to play in these games, so I think that's why we all enjoy the opportunity to do that.”
Follow Ryan Chichester on Twitter: @ryanchichester1
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