Cole, Bombers clobbered in Rays laugher
ST. PETERSBURG — The Yankees are trying to build a playoff team.
After the first two Rays games this week, and an hour after making a deal official to trade for two-time All-Star Joey Gallo, the cornerstone of their playoff hopes went out and got rocked. Gerrit Cole gave up a season-high eight runs, seven earned, as the Bombers were blown out by the Rays, 14-0, at Tropicana Field on Thursday.
The Yankees (5348) took the series, but left having lost four out of their last six games during a period when they needed to make up ground.
They are now 5-4 at Tropicana Field this season and 7-9 against the Rays (61-42) overall this season.
It was the Yankees’ largest shutout loss since a 16-0 loss in August of 2007 to the Tigers and their largest margin of loss since a 19-5 loss Aug. 15, 2019 against Cleveland.
They have swept four series this season, but have been swept seven times.
“It’s gonna be really hard when your starter puts you down four to zero in the first to really kind of muster something up against a team of this quality,” Cole said. “So in terms of sweeps in general, I think it’s hard to sweep. I think we’ve had some opportunities to sweep and maybe not have some stuff go our way, but in respect to this series, this one’s on me.”
He wasn’t the only reason. The offense was shut out for the sixth time this season, and the second time by the Rays. Luis Patino — the 21-year-old right-hander the Rays got back from San Diego after trading Cy Young winner Blake Snell there this winter — pitched six scoreless, three-hit innings. He walked two and struck out eight.
But it all started with Cole and the pitching.
It was the most runs the Yankees allowed this season. The 10-run sixth inning was the most they allowed in a frame this year, which also tied their previous high of most runs allowed in an inning — last September, the Blue Jays got them for 10 runs, also in the sixth, in Buffalo.
Cole’s full line of the game included six hits and a home run. He walked two and struck out 10 in 5.1 innings pitched. It was one run shy of the most Cole has allowed in his career. It was also his eighth double-digit strikeout game.
Cole gave up what initially looked like a lead-off home run to Brandon Lowe in the first, but it was overturned on replay. Lowe eventually legged out a single and scored on a Yandy Diaz single. But Cole could not escape the first without giving up that homer. Austin Meadows hammered his first of the game, a three run-shot to put the Yankees in a 4-0 hole.
The Yankees ace settled down ... for four innings. He struck out seven straight Rays, including retiring 16 out of 17 straight batters.
Meadows came back to bite him again with a oneout single in the sixth, followed by a Randy Arozarena single. Cole loaded the bases after walking 20-yearold rookie Wander Franco. Then Kevin Kiermaier lofted a fly ball to the warning track in left field that popped out of Brett Gardner’s glove, allowing two runs to score.
“To be honest, I tried to catch it, but just wasn’t seeing clearly for those couple seconds, because of me turning around and picking up the lights like I did,” Gardner said.
Cole crouched down over his knees in frustration as Aaron Boone walked out to pull him from the game.
Reliever Albert Abreu gave up six runs on three homers without getting an out before Boone had to go back to his bullpen and Sal Romano finally got the Yankees out of the inning.
The Yankees expect their new players to meet them in Miami Friday and maybe to have a few more before the 4 p.m. deadline that day.
Despite the embarrassing loss, Boone thinks they are built for a run.
“We’ve got to play really good baseball the final two months of the season to give ourselves a chance to get into the dance,” he said.