Besides the rain delay that prevented us from seeing a full baseball game, everything went smoothly for the New York Yankees on Thursday. They won at Washington on Opening Day, versus Max Scherzer, no less. Giancarlo Stanton was the first designated hitter on a National League park, and he mashed a moonshot to left center. And Gerrit Cole pitched a complete game (hey, it counts!) and only allowed an Adam Eaton homer.
All in all, Cole threw five innings of only one hit and one run. “It was a special moment that I don’t know that he’ll ever forget and a lot of us won’t either,†Yankees right fielder Aaron Judge said, per NJ.com.
Besides the Eaton dinger, Cole only allowed two additional baserunners: he hit Eric Thames with a pitch and walked Asdrubal Cabrera. That was it. Despite struggling with command on occasion, Cole managed to retire 15 of the 18 hitters he faced.
“Every time that I have the opportunity to catch him, it’s just impressive,†Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez said. “It’s impressive to see how easy he makes my job. He’s always attacking hitters. He’s always following the plan. He has that it.â€
The Yankees had to sign him
The Yankees knew they had to sign Cole after seeing him last year. They were direct witnessed of his dominating ways. With the Houston Astros, Cole was 20-5 with a 2.50 ERA in the regular season, and 4-1 with a 1.72 ERA in the playoffs.
Stanton said after seeing Cole’s debut that it was “what I expected. Just dominant in the zone. Getting crazy swing and misses like he usually does, and it’s good to see. Good to see him get his first game, win and complete game.â€
Cole grew up watching and loving the Yankees in Southern California. “This was his favorite team growing up for a kid, and to kind of come full circle from being a fan to pitching Opening Day for the Yankees against the reigning champs, that was exciting for him,†Aaron Judge said. “I could see it in his preparation throughout the day that he was ready to roll. He wanted this.â€