New York Yankees Recap: Gerrit Cole wins third game in a row – Yankees 6 Phillies 3

The New York Yankees maintained their number one standing in all of baseball again last night with a 6-3 win over Joe Girardi’s Philadelphia Phillies.  It was also Yankee ace Gerrit Cole’s third straight win. Again last night, it was obvious that Cole struggled a bit.  With the premium pitcher that he is, he still managed to give up just one run in six innings.

We are being supercritical; Cole’s performance last night would be welcomed by any other team.  But knowing the type of dominant pitcher Cole can be, you don’t expect to see him struggle, but that was the case last night for the third time while still winning all of those games.

After nearly a week’s delay, the Phillies finally met up with the Yankees at Yankee Stadium in a game that featured a nearly one-hour rain delay. The heavy rain moved through quickly and the game resumed in the seventh inning. It was Joe Girardi’s first game back at the Stadium since he was the manager of the New York Yankees.

The Phillies faced the Yankee ace Gerrit Cole in his first start of the season at Yankee Stadium.  The Phillies, due to the coronavirus scare by the Marlins, hadn’t played in eight days.  Cole had a quick one-two-three innings in the first before DJ LeMahieu smashed his first homer in the bottom of the frame.  At the top of the third, Cole gave up his only run of the game a homer to Jay Bruce that tied the game at one.

But again at the bottom of the frame, the Yankee retook the lead when Brett Gardner’s bat powered a homer into the stands just right of the left-field foul pole. Aaron Judge in his second hit of the night doubled, and Aaron Hicks drove him in for the Yankees 3-1 lead.

Moving on the to bottom of the six-inning and just before the rain delay, the Yankees exploded for three runs in the inning led off with two men aboard by the amazing Gio Urshala who had a bomb into the visitor’s bullpen for the Yankees 6-1 lead.  Then came the rain, fast and heavy as the tarp was quickly rolled out, ending Gerrit Cole’s night. It was Gio Urshela’s third home run in his last four games.

When play resumed the New York Yankee bullpen struggled a bit, Brooks Kriske gave up a run in the seventh, and Luis Avilan gave up one in the eighth. Between them, Chad Green looked sharp, pitching a clean two-thirds of an inning.  The night was capped off by Zack Britton, shutting down the Phillies in the ninth for his fourth straight save.

The final score was the Yankees 6 and the Philadelphia Phillies 3.  Gerrit Cole was the winner, and Jake Arrieta took the loss for the Phils.  Britton with the save.

With the tropical storm on the horizon, the game today has been postponed and will be played as a doubleheader tomorrow with 4 and 7 o’clock scheduled starting times in Philadelphia with the final game on Thursday. The Yankees will then take their first plane flight of the season moving on to play the Tampa Bay Rays. Because Thursday’s game was supposed to be with the Rays, that will cause another doubleheader at Tropicana Field in Tampa.