It was 72 degrees with mostly cloudy skies at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, Florida last night as the New York Yankees‘ faithful waited eagerly for the debut of newly acquired ace Gerrit Cole in his Yankee Uniform.
As he walked to the mound to warm up, he received a huge, loud standing ovation from the fans, and again when he was announced. He pitched for just one inning, throwing 20 pitches and striking out two. Cole’s fastball hit 98mph and 97mph several times during the inning. He walked Cole Tucker, forced Adam Frazier to pop out, and he struck out Bryan Reynolds, finished off the inning by striking out first base star Josh Bell, against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Monday night. As Cole left the mound, he received another loud standing ovation.
Chris Stratton started for the Pirates; he allowed one walk and struck out one. Cole was replaced by Jordan Montgomery in the second, the second of eight pitchers used in the game. The game remained hitless for both teams until Jacob Stallings doubled off Jonathan Holder in the top of the fourth inning. The Yankees first hit came in the bottom of the fifth inning when SS Gleber Torres singled.
In the top of the six Bryan Reyolds got on base follow be another single, then Josh Bell hit into a double play allowing Reynold to score the first run of the game. In the seventh inning catcher, Gary Sanchez was replaced by Erik Kratz at the backstop.  With two on base in the seventh Oneil Cruz scored on a passed ball by Kratz, he second in as many days. Pirates 2, Yankees 0.
The bottom of the seventh inning provided all the scoring for the Yankees. Catcher Erik Kratz, third baseman Oswaldo Cabrera, and right fielder Ben Ruta all scored in the inning, which gave the Yankees the 3-2 lead. But unfortunately for the Yankees, the Pirates scored in the top of the night off Yankee reliever Glen Otto for the Tie.
Ties are generally not broken in spring training games. Obviously, with the Tie, there was no winning or losing pitcher. There were no home runs in the game. The Tie left the Yankees at 0-2 and the Pirates at 0-3 so far in spring training. But the big takeaway in the game was the performance of Gerrit Cole and his Yankee debut. After the game, Cole said: “It was fun. Made some good pitches. Worked well with Gary” (Sanchez). Also, to the delight of Manager Aaron Boone, Jordan Montgomery pitched two hitless innings while allowing one walk.
Today the Yankees will face the Toronto Blue Jays, this time at their home field, TD Bank Ballpark, located in Dunedin, Florida. The Jays will start RHP Nate Pearson, and the Yankees will start RHP Luis Cessa in the game that will start at 1:07 pm. The Next televised Yankee game will be at 1:05 pm on Wednesday at Tampa, between the Yankees and the Washington Nationals. The YES Network will carry the game.