Gerrit Cole gave up the ghost in the 2021 Wild Card Game, and didn’t exactly have a great track record this season – setting a new franchise record for strikeouts but also giving up a career high in homers.
But, after Cole went out in Game 1 of the ALDS, escaped trouble and pitched 6 1/3 innings of one-run ball, well, even Gio had to give Cole his props.
“There was a lot of talk about Gerrit Cole; we sat here and discussed how Nestor Cortes deserved the Game 1 start but Cole was going to get it because of the money he makes and his name and whatever, but he went out and delivered,” Gio said. “Say what you want about the Guardians, they still made it to this point and won their division and have very good players. Cole went out and gave up his requisite home run, but outside of that, he was great. He was everything you went out and paid him for.”
When Cole is on, Gio added, the Yankees just feel like a championship team.
“There will be other other important starts for him this postseason, but you love to see this version of him to kick it off,” Gio said. “When he looks like that…him being your number one ace and horse who looks like he did last night, it makes them feel like a championship team.”
Of course there’s always a downside, and to Boomer, it’s basically what Gio said you could want to say about the level of opposition.
“Undisciplined hitters will do that, because they’ll swing at pitches outside of the zone, so that’s the way it should’ve been last night…but I just feel like this is all just warm-up fodder for the next series,” Boomer said. “There’s just something about the Guardians. They’re a good team, but they’re not overly impressive. They’re a good team and won their division, and I don’t want to take anything away from that, but it’s a poor division, and they’re a light-hitting team that doesn’t have great pitching.”
Still, you can only play who is on the schedule, so Yankees fans have to be happy heading into Game 2 on Thursday, weather permitting.
“They won a game, everything seems to be fine,” Boomer and Gio joked after almost an hour of non-stop Yankees talk to start the show, before they dropped in with a kicker: “The Yankees have major expectations, and their fans expect wins…and this is a Guardians team that should get swept and wiped out here, and you’re starting to dream again about that Astros-Yankees ALCS.”
Follow WFAN's morning team on Twitter: @7BOOMERESIASON, @GioWFAN, @Alsboringtweets, @JerryRecco, and @WFANMornings
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