On Sunday afternoon, the New York Yankees faced off against the Texas Rangers in a doubleheader. With Gerrit Cole taking the mound, he missed his scheduled start on Friday due to inclement weather.
Jordan Montgomery earned the start in the second game of the doubleheader, but the Yankees, unfortunately, fell, scoring just two runs and allowing four.
Good news and bad news as Yankees split doubleheader:
In the first game of the doubleheader, Cole lasted 6.1 innings, giving up five hits and one earned run. Cole tossed 114 total pitches, his highest mark of the season. He threw 76 strikes and struck out 10 batters, lowering his ERA to 2.67.
“I felt really good,” Cole said. “I think I executed every single pitch the inning before. I know we have a doubleheader today and I just want to let them know like, ‘Hey I’m good.'”
Unfortunately, Cole allowed a solo shot in the 7th inning after the Yankees finally got on the board just prior. Offensively, the Yankees struggled to get anything going, posting five hits and six strikeouts.
Leadoff man Aaron Hicks picked up three strikeouts. If not for a Gleyber Torres walk-off homer in the 9th inning, this contest could’ve gone quite differently, wasting a Cole master-class.
“The bigger the situation, it does seem like he ratchets the concentration level a bit,” manager Aaron Boone said. “Cold day out there, it was good to see him to stick one.”
The Bombers have been electrifying on offense the past few weeks, but they clearly lost a bit of zest after taking a few days off due to bad weather.
In the second game of the doubleheader, Montgomery lasted 6.0 innings, giving up two runs and striking out five batters over 71 pitches. Star relief pitcher Michael King had his first poor outing of the year, allowing two hits and two runs over 1.1 innings, but struck out three batters. He still hosts a 1.42 ERA this season.
Offensively, the Yankees tallied just three hits on the evening, and with runners in scoring position in the 9th inning, Isiah Kiner-Falefa struck out swinging, and Joey Gallo lined out to right field. DJ LeMahieu tried his best to spark a late run but lined out to centerfield to end the game.
Despite the loss, the Yankees have won 12 of their last 14 games and will take on the Texas Rangers one last time on Monday afternoon at 1:05 PM with Luis Severino on the mound.