What a difference five days can make.
Last week, Gerrit Cole was getting annihilated with back-to-back-to-back home runs to open up a brutal start against the Twins. But on Tuesday night, the Yankee ace played the part with six shutout innings against the Rays to get the Yanks started on their tough 13-game stretch with a big win.
“Just on the corners a lot, unpredictable a lot, but throwing four pitches well, executed and well located,” Cole said.
In the rare events that Cole did run into trouble, he found his way out. With the bases loaded in the top of the sixth shortly after New York took a 2-0 lead, Cole forced Randy Arozarena to ground into a 6-4-3 double play to end the inning, as a pumped-up Cole ran off the mound in excitement.
“He was just executing pitches around the zone,” Jose Trevino said. “Not many mistakes tonight…I thought his fastball command was really good, slider command was really good.
“He did what he was supposed to do, go out there and make pitches. That’s the good thing about Gerrit. You get him in that position, he’s not gonna back down.”
The Yanks still have five more against Tampa in this current stretch, as well as a series with the Blue Jays and Astros. Many believe it will be the first true test to see how good the league-leading Bombers are, but Cole believes his team is up to the challenge, and can win in any way necessary. He should know, as in his last two appearances, he has watched the Yanks bail him out of a clunker with an offensive onslaught, then watched the lineup do just enough to get a win for Cole when he was much more effective.
“It’s gonna be a lot of tough baseball, but we’re up for the challenge,” Cole said. “Believe me, we're fighting to have a huge offensive night against these guys, but at the same time we feel confident in tight games too.”
Follow Ryan Chichester on Twitter: @ryanchichester1
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