Gerrit Cole kicked his right foot against the dirt of the Yankee Stadium mound, clearly exhibiting frustration as he searched for a mechanical adjustment that never developed. Meanwhile, the Yankees are struggling to find answers against their well-balanced division rival.
The ace right-hander permitted plenty of hard contact to the first-place Rays, who sent Cole to his second consecutive defeat following a 28-start regular-season unbeaten streak. The Yankees absorbed a 5-3 loss on Monday evening, their seventh loss in eight games against Tampa Bay.
Ji-Man Choi and Kevin Kiermaier homered off Cole, who has permitted at least one long ball in each of his eight starts as a Yankee and is now tied for the Major League lead with 12 homers allowed. Choi remained a personal nemesis, improving to 9-for-17 in his career against Cole, including the postseason.
Tampa Bay collected four runs and eight hits over five innings against Cole, with 10 of the 15 balls put in play registering exit velocities of 95 mph or greater — including Kiermaier’s 110.2 mph second-inning missile to the second deck in right field. That tied Cole’s highest hard-hit percentage since Statcast was incorporated in 2015.
Carrying a three-game winning streak into Monday’s action, the Yankees couldn’t break through against right-hander Tyler Glasnow, who carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning. DJ LeMahieu reached on a replay-reviewed infield single to register the first of two knocks against Glasnow, who struck out nine over six scoreless frames.
Kyle leads sports coverage and hosts the Concrete Jungle podcast. Have a lead or question? Send it to [email protected].