Gerrit Cole endured a nightmare start Sunday, allowing home runs to the first three batters he faced as the New York Yankees (81-62) fell to the San Diego Padres (75-68), 4-3, at Petco Park and dropped two of three in the series.
Cole allowed home runs on his first 15 pitches to Fernando Tatis Jr., Jake Cronenworth and Manny Machado, putting the Yankees in an early hole before they had recorded an out. It marked the second time in Cole’s career that he has allowed home runs to the first three hitters of a game.
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Cole is the only Major League Baseball pitcher to accomplish the unwanted feat twice. San Diego became just the 12th team in Major League Baseball history to open a game with three consecutive home runs.
Cole later allowed another solo shot to Luis Campusano, giving the Padres four home runs against him. He finished with three strikeouts, tying Al Downing with 1,028 for 11th place on the Yankees’ all-time strikeout list.
The Yankees were held in check for much of the afternoon by former teammate Michael King. Acquired by San Diego in the December 2023 trade that sent Juan Soto to New York, King allowed only four hits across six scoreless innings. He walked three, struck out three and extended his scoreless streak to 21.2 innings.
New York finally broke through in the eighth when Spencer Jones continued his strong return to his hometown with an RBI double against Adrian Morejon. The Yankees then took advantage of a throwing error by Morejon on an Amed Rosario infield single, allowing two runs to score.
The loss left the Yankees with a 3-3 record on their West Coast road trip, and kept them four games behind the Tampa Bay Rays with 19 left to play.
After Monday’s off day, New York returns home Tuesday to begin a three-game series against the Colorado Rockies. Cam Schlittler is scheduled to start at 7:05 p.m.
Kyle leads sports coverage and hosts the Concrete Jungle podcast. Have a lead or question? Send it to kyle@fingerlakes1.com.