Yankees' Gerrit Cole exits in fourth inning vs. Blue Jays with left hamstring tightness
Yankees starting pitcher Gerrit Cole gives the ball to manager Aaron Boone during the fourth inning at Yankee Stadium on Tuesday. Credit: Noah K. Murray
Yankees ace Gerrit Cole left his start against Toronto with two outs in the fourth inning on Tuesday night with left hamstring tightness.
Cole had just given up a sacrifice fly for the Blue Jays’ third run when he signaled to the dugout. Manager Aaron Boone emerged with the trainer and removed Cole after a very brief conversation.
Cole threw 70 pitches in 3 2/3 innings and left trailing 3-1. His second pitch of the night was a 96-mile per hour fastball that sailed over catcher Kyle Higashioka and to the backstop. That’s uncharacteristic of Cole, who seemed uncomfortable for most of his time in the game.
In his last outing, Cole struck out 15 in seven innings vs. the Angels. He threw 116 pitches.
On Tuesday, Cole allowed a second-inning home run to Alejandro Kirk to put the Yankees in a 1-0 hole.
The Yankees tied it in the third on a two-out RBI single by Anthony Rizzo against former Mets lefthander Steven Matz.
But Cole gave up two runs in the fourth on sacrifice flies by Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and Reese McGuire.
Cole tried to play cutoff man on McGuire’s sacrifice fly to center as Aaron Judge’s throw bounced off his glove between home plate and the mound. It is unclear if Cole injured himself on that play or was already feeling the tightness.
The quickness of his removal from the game after he signaled to the dugout suggests the tightness was a topic of discussion in the dugout before the inning.
Cole allowed five hits, walked two and struck out two. He was called for a balk in the fourth when he lifted his left leg off the rubber slightly and then put it back down. One of the runs against Cole was unearned because of a passed ball.
Cole was replaced by Albert Abreu, who gave up a home run in the fifth to Marcus Semien to give the Blue Jays a 4-1 lead.
Anthony Rieber covers sports media and business and professional sports (you know, games and trades and things). He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since Jan. 1, 2026.
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