Cole takes no-no into 8th; Yankees get 50th victory
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Gerrit Cole took a no-hit bid into the eighth inning, Aaron Hicks hit a tiebreaking triple in the ninth as Manuel Margot slammed into the right-field wall and the New York Yankees beat the Tampa Bay Rays 4-2 on Monday night for their 50th win.
New York has won 17 of its last 19 games, and its 50-17 start is the best in the major leagues since the 2001 Seattle Mariners.
“For us to answer back like that just shows what this team’s about,” said Aaron Judge, who went 0 for 3 with a walk. “We don’t just live or die by the long ball. We’re just a good all-around team.”
Margot sprained a knee, and Rays manager Kevin Cash expects him to miss significant time.
Cole struck out 12 and walked three, allowing one run and one hit in 7 1/3 innings. Cole struck out six in a row at one point and led 2-0 when Isaac Paredes led off the eighth by grounding a slider on Cole’s 105th pitch off the mound and into center field.
“Any time you get to the eighth inning, you’re starting to smell it and it gets close. But once (the no-hitter) goes by the wayside and it’a tie game, it’s right back to: ‘Let’s go find a way to get this thing done,’’ Yankees manager Aaron Boone said.
Judge didn’t realize Cole was flirting with a nohitter until the sixth inning.
“He was just cruising. I guess it was just a normal Cole day,” Judge said. “He had all his pitches working tonight. Just to be able to use all those pitches in any count, in any situation, is pretty impressive.”
Clay Holmes (5-0) blew a 2-0 lead and allowed his first run since opening day, ending a 31 1/3 inning scoreless streak.
Anthony Rizzo hit a first-inning home run off Shane Mcclanahan, and the Yankees got a run in the seventh on an error by first baseman Ji-man Choi, the major league-high 45th unearned run allowed by the Rays.
■ Pirates 12, Cubs 1: At Pittsburgh, Foothill high alum Bligh Madris got three hits in his major league debut as Pittsburgh set a season high for runs. Madris became the first Pirates player to have a three-hit game in his debut since Jason Kendall in 1996. Oneil Cruz added a three-run double that capped a four-run third.
■ Royals 6, Angels 1: At Anaheim, Calif., Nicky Lopez drove in the go-ahead run in the seventh to back Kris Bubic (1-4), who came into the game as one of four pitchers in the majors to have at least eight starts and no wins, struck out a season-high seven in six innings for his first victory.
■ Mets 6, Marlins 0: At New York, David Peterson (4-1) struck out a season-high seven in 5 1/3 innings on 100 pitches. Jeff Mcneil left in the fourth inning with right hamstring tightness after scoring on a wild pitch.
■ Red Sox 5, Tigers 2: At Boston, Franchy Cordero had three hits, including a two-run single to back Josh Winckowski (2-1), who allowed seven hits and a walk, striking out two in 6 2/3 innings.
■ White Sox 8, Blue Jays 7: At Chicago, Andrew Vaughn matched a career high with four hits, including a solo homer for Chicago, which handed Toronto its fourth loss in five games.
■ Braves 2, Giants 1: At Atlanta, Orlando
Arcia drove in Matt Olson from second base with a tiebreaking single in the ninth inning for Atlanta, which has won two straight and 16 of 18.
■ Padres 4, Diamondbacks 1: At San Diego, Jake Cronenworth and Trent Grisham homered to back Yu Darvish (7-3), who struck out five and walked two in seven innings.
■ Brewers 2, Cardinals 0: At Milwaukee, Tyrone Taylor hit a two-run homer to back Corbin Burnes (5-4), who struck out 10 and allowed just two hits and two walks.