Mayfield’s debut one to remember
Gerrit Cole once countered the Chicago Cubs with finesse, pitching down in the strike zone and daring his division rival to send contact onto the infield.
Thirteen of his 14 starts against Chicago were quality. He produced a 2.50 ERA against the club as a Pittsburgh Pirate.
The Pirates predicated Cole’s style around sinkers. Pitching to contact was encouraged. Only occasionally did the righthander sprinkle the velocity the Astros have allowed him to unleash.
A trade from Pittsburgh two seasons ago was a rejuvenation. The Astros asked Cole to eschew his two-seam fastball and, instead, elevate his four-seamer. It ranks as one of the sport’s most effective pitches.
Cole utilizes it more than 50 percent of the time. The 96.1 mph average velocity is second among American League starters. Cole is
a changed pitcher, one with a twoyear gap between starts against this former foe he once owned.
“I respect them a lot,” Cole said. “They play hard and I respect them a lot. I’ve watched them kind of mature and I’ve played against them quite a bit.
“My game plan was obviously crafted off of my approach now. But I still used what I had done in the past against them and tried to mesh the two together.”
Opposing the Cubs for the first time since Sept. 6, 2017, Cole introduced them to his Houston heat. He threw six suffocating innings and matched his season high with 12 strikeouts, pacing a 6-5 win in a Memorial Day matinee.
On an afternoon notable for who was absent, Cole was the cornerstone. He generated a seasonhigh 26 swings and misses on 99 pitches. Twenty-two whiffs came against his four-seam fastball. All but one of his 12 strikeouts concluded on it.
Javier Baez, the reigning National League MVP runner-up, struck out against Cole three times. Daniel Descalso and David Bote punched out twice.
“I just thought that we were locating the fastball well today,” Cole said. “We were pitching to both sides of the plate and, just, overall executing a lot of good pitches. We got a little bit of a lead early and that always just kind of helps you settle in and kind of find the zone.”
Cole opposed Cole Hamels, who encountered an Astros lineup suited more for a Grapefruit League afternoon than one against a National League contender. Fatigue and injuries have ravaged this team, one forced to showcase the ample depth spread across its system. Carlos Correa’s day off Monday was coupled with Jose Altuve, George Springer and Aledmys Diaz on the injured list.
The consequence was a combination of minor league fill-ins and overworked regulars. Both exhausted Hamels. The lefthander finished just four innings.
For the first time since May 25, 2008, Hamels did not strike out a batter during a start. In 404 career starts, the 35-year-old changeup connoisseur accomplished that three times. Twice, it’s been against the Astros.
“I think a lot of it is just battling,” right fielder Derek Fisher said. “Knowing that these guys have been here all year and they’re battling, whether on the field or not. Unfortunately we’ve got some really good guys who can’t be on the field right now. We put some at-bats together at the bottom of our order today where I felt like we were just battling.”
Three days ago, Fisher was recalled to replace Springer, the American League leader in almost every offensive category. He batted eighth against Hamels, who held lefthanded hitters to an 8-for-47 season line.
Fisher’s third-inning single through the right side sent Robinson Chirinos in as the inning’s fifth run. Six of the first seven men to face Hamels in the third reached base. The one who didn’t — Jack Mayfield — bounced a runscoring groundout to attain another first.
Mayfield, a man of 617 minor league games and no major league plate appearances, hit sixth in his major league debut. His contract was purchased Monday morning to afford a warm body to a mangled middle infield.
Mayfield, 28, went undrafted out of Oklahoma in 2013. His orbital bone was shattered in 2017 by a 95 mph pitch. That he stood at second base Monday was the type of emotion-evoking effort that defines baseball.
“It all paid off for this one moment,” Mayfield said. “The best thing is that we won the game. That makes it so much sweeter.”
Mayfield’s second-inning double off the wall invigorated a weary dugout. His third-inning groundout continued a carousel. The Astros accumulated five runs in the third inning, stroking three singles and coaxing two walks.
“We put the ball in play and good things happen when you put the ball in play,” said Fisher, who finished 2-for-4 in the eighth spot.
The inning offered ample cushion for Cole. It dragged for more than 20 minutes, causing Cole to start jumping jacks in the dugout.
Two first-inning mistakes marred his outing. A leadoff walk to Kyle Schwarber and a two-run homer off a subpar slider to Anthony Rizzo gave Cole a quick two-run deficit.
The righthander retired 17 of the final 19 hitters he encountered. Cole struck out the side during the third and sixth. He allowed three baserunners across the final five innings he worked.
“To get that kind of swing and miss means the ball is jumping on you, he’s putting it where he wants to and exploiting a few holes,” Hinch said. “Just a dominant pitching performance.”