Gerrit Cole's return provides much-needed boost to Yankees' pursuit of AL East crown
The Yankees saw the return of Gerrit Cole to the mound, and the team's ace looked as good as it gets, considering the veteran right-hander hasn't pitched in the big leagues in nearly 600 days.
Yes, it was another loss – to the Rays, no less. Again. But if you zoom out from the workaday parts of Rays 4, Yankees 2 on Friday night at the Stadium , there’s gold in the fact that Gerrit Cole looked so good in his first big league outing since Game 5 of the 2024 World Series.
Because if these Yankees are going to reassert themselves in the AL East race, their rotation figures to be a major factor. And if Cole can be his old self, they’ll doubtless make a push. “We’re capable of big things,” Aaron Boone said, referring specifically to his starting rotation.
“And it’s great to have our ace back in the mix. ” Frankly, the Yanks needed the boost, even if one night’s result didn’t turn things around immediately. Following Friday night, the Yankees had lost three straight games and 10 of their last 14.
Tampa Bay has pushed its division lead to 5. 5 games on the Yankees (seven in the loss column). Aaron Judge is struggling – he’s 0-for-his-last-15 – and while the Yankees had 11 hits Friday and mustered 12 at-bats with runners in scoring position, they only scored two runs.