Gerrit Cole led the New York Yankees to victory on Tuesday night against the Seattle Mariners, ending a four-game losing streak that had included being swept over the weekend by the Boston Red Sox. Cole's night even included some extracurricular activity during (and after) a seventh-inning at-bat versus José Caballero that even involved Seattle skipper Scott Servais.
The weirdness did not begin until after Cole worked an 0-2 count against Caballero. At that point, Caballero was granted additional time by the umpire, causing a relatively long delay by pitch-clock era standards. Cole appeared to be annoyed by Caballero, since he then uncorked a 97 mph fastball that had a better chance of reaching the stands than the strike zone.
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Cole and Caballero would battle to a full count before Cole prevailed, striking out the rookie on a fastball looking. Cole's conflict with the Mariners did not stop there, however, as he later wagged his finger toward Seattle's dugout as he made his way off the field. That gesture was revealed to be for Servais.
"Their manager had some choice words for me coming off the field and he was wagging his finger at me, so I wagged my finger at him," Cole said afterward.
As for whether or not Cole's errant pitch was intended, he told reporters (including Erik Boland of Newsday) the following: "Sometimes a high fastball can be a really effective pitch. Gotta change eye levels."
Cole would return to retire one more batter in the eighth before departing. He finished his night having thrown 7 1/3 innings of one-run ball, over which he allowed four hits and a walk. He also struck out eight of the 28 batters he faced, and did it all on 105 pitches. That's the third-most pitches he's thrown in a start this season, and the most since May 2.
Cole, 32, is now sporting a 2.64 ERA (158 ERA+) and a 3.53 strikeout-to-walk ratio over his first 16 starts. He's surrendered two earned runs or fewer in each of his last four outings, and he's recorded a quality start in each.
The Yankees, 40-33 on the season, are tied with the Los Angeles Angels for the American League's second wild-card position. They'll continue their series against the Mariners on Wednesday before wrapping it up on Thursday.
