The Dodgers just handed the Yankees a brutal loss on Friday, rolling into Yankee Stadium for the first time since the 2024 World Series and walking out with the W. New York was up 1-0 in the top of the seventh, but a bad call by manager Aaron Boone completely flipped the script.
Boone’s Big Mistake with Gerrit Cole
Boone’s ace, Gerrit Cole, had just walked Mookie Betts to open the seventh, hitting his 97th pitch of the game. Now, Cole had Tommy John surgery last year and this was only his second start of 2026 with at least 90 pitches. In the other one, he was pulled at exactly 90. So, 97 pitches was already a season-high for that reconstructed elbow. Boone had a mound conference, and Cole convinced him to stay in, to avoid the bullpen. What happened next? Max Muncy stepped up, and after a six-pitch at-bat, he blasted a 2-2 slider that caught way too much plate, right down the middle, 416 feet out of the park. That ball came off the bat at over 107 mph. Muncy’s 18th dinger of the year absolutely crushed the Yankees, making it 2-1 Dodgers and finally knocking Cole out of the game. Reliever Brent Headrick came in and retired the next three batters in order, showing what the bullpen could do. You just gotta wonder if Boone should have stuck to his gut and pulled Cole at 90, especially with an All-Star slugging nearly .500 on the season at the plate.
The Luck of the Bounce
New York almost battled back in the bottom of the eighth. Ben Rice, the designated hitter, came up with a runner on first and one out. He ripped a slider off Alex Vesia, sending it to the warning track, bouncing off the wall in right. But Andy Pages in center field corralled an unbelievably fortunate hop right into his glove. Pages immediately whipped the ball to the infield. Betts got the throw, turned, and fired home. Daulton Rushing was there, snagging the ball and tagging Trent Grisham just before he could tie the game. Man, a worse bounce, even a tiny bit, and it’s a 2-2 game. But that’s baseball, right? Those little decisions, those tiny bounces, they add up. You could argue Grisham should have held at third with only one out and the heart of the order coming up, but in the heat of the moment, tying it up looks good.
The Dodgers moved to 62-36 with that win. The Yankees, despite the frustrating loss, actually got a small break. The Rays lost twice on Friday, letting New York pick up half-a-game in the standings. It’s wild, you can look at that Dodgers-Yankees game and agonize over every single little thing, trying to see how a different call or a different bounce could have changed the outcome. Meanwhile, some games, like the Nationals just demolishing the Athletics 23-4, scoring three runs in the third… yeah, some outcomes are just inevitable. But for New York, this one was absolutely self-inflicted by a series of choices.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
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