Yankees manager Aaron Boone straight-up admitted he should’ve pulled Gerrit Cole way earlier from his Friday night start against the Los Angeles Dodgers. What a gut punch, right? You never want to hear your manager say “that falls on me,” especially after a tight loss like that.
The Seventh Inning Disaster: Trusting the Ace Too Long
Cole was dealing, but you could feel the tension building. He’d already tossed 96 pitches when he walked Mookie Betts to kick off the top of the seventh inning. That’s when the alarm bells usually start ringing for any manager. Boone told reporters after the game, “I was feeling the situation out. Obviously, in hindsight, probably should have grabbed him there.” Man, that’s a tough pill to swallow when you know what happened next. Instead of calling for Brent Headrick from the bullpen, Boone walked out to the mound. He asked Cole if he had “one more” in him. Cole, being the competitor he is, responded with a confident “Yeah.” Boone, feeling like Cole was still “competitive back in the Mookie bat,” decided to roll the dice.
“That Falls On Me”: A Costly Mistake
Turns out, that roll of the dice landed on snake eyes. With Cole still on the bump, Max Muncy stepped up and absolutely crushed a two-run homer. That was Cole’s season-high 103rd pitch, by the way. Just like that, the Yankees went from battling to conceding a painful 2-1 loss. Boone didn’t mince words about it either: “I’ve got Headrick teed up there. It’s probably, that’s on me. I should probably get him there, even though I felt like he was in a good place, and obviously threw the ball great tonight… that falls on me.” You gotta respect a manager owning it, but you also have to question the decision to leave your ace in that deep. Cole, for his part, appreciated the faith. He told reporters it was “nice to push the stamina” and “a great learning opportunity physically.” But a loss is a loss, and those come with consequences.
What This Means For the AL East Race
Despite the Friday night heartbreak, the Yankees are still only 2.5 games back of the Tampa Bay Rays for the AL East lead. Every game matters, especially in a tight race like that. With Max Fried and Carlos Rodón ramping up activities in hopes of returning from injury, Boone’s probably praying for some reinforcements. A deeper starting rotation would definitely take some pressure off Cole and hopefully prevent these kinds of tough calls later in the season. Let’s see if those guys can get healthy and give the rotation the depth it desperately needs.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
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