Gerrit Cole leaves with hamstring tightness as Yankees fall to Blue Jays again
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
Something didn’t seem quite right with Gerrit Cole when he fired his second pitch of the night all the way to the backstop on Tuesday.
And something didn’t seem quite right with Cole when he was called for a balk in the fourth inning.
And something definitely wasn’t right with Cole when he motioned to the dugout to come and take him out in the fourth inning of a 5-1 Yankees loss to the Blue Jays at Yankee Stadium.
The Yankees, who have lost four in a row and eight of 10 since a 13-game winning streak, now have to worry about the status of their top starter.
Cole said he first felt tightness in his left hamstring in the fourth when he "overextended a leg or had a little bit of a cramp" on a couple of pitches.
"I gave it a go for a few pitches," he said. "But when it was all said and done, I just had a little bit too much uncertainty that I wasn’t confident enough that I’d be able to sit here and say, ‘Hey, there’s a possibility to make the next start.’ "
Cole said he hopes he caught it early. His next start would be Monday against Minnesota. He didn’t rule out needing a few extra days before he can take the mound again. He just doesn’t know.
"I’m going to be smart about it and trust my instincts," Cole said. "Hopefully able to make the next one. It’s not impossible. It’s not something I haven’t done before."
Said manager Aaron Boone: "It’s kind of silly for us to sit here and speculate. He’s still hot from the game. Let’s see how he is tomorrow."
The only good news for the Yankees? Boston also lost, so the Yankees still hold the AL’s top wild-card spot by a half-game over the Red Sox. Toronto, which has won six in a row and nine of 10, is two games behind Boston. The Blue Jays have gained seven games on the Yankees in the last 11 days.
Cole had just given up a sacrifice fly for the Blue Jays’ third run when he signaled to the dugout. Boone emerged with the trainer and removed Cole after a very brief conversation. Yankees Nation sagged.
"He’s a guy that we need healthy, obviously," Brett Gardner said.
Cole threw 70 pitches in 3 2/3 innings and left trailing 3-1. In his last outing, he struck out 15 in seven innings against the Angels and threw 116 pitches.
On Tuesday, Cole (14-7, 2.78 ERA) allowed five hits, walked two and struck out two.
Cole gave up a second-inning home run by 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 was called for a balk in the inning when he lifted his right leg off the rubber slightly and then put it back down. One of the runs against him was unearned because of a passed ball. Cole called it "a mess of an inning."
Cole was replaced by Albert Abreu, who gave up a home run by Marcus Semien in the fifth to give the Blue Jays a 4-1 lead. It was Semien’s third home run in two days, seventh against the Yankees in 14 games this season and 38th overall.
Matz (11-7, 3.70) continued his recent string of fine pitching. The Long Island product allowed one run in six innings and has given up two runs or fewer in each of his last seven starts (1.63 ERA).
Boone benched slumping Joey Gallo and Gleyber Torres and started Gardner in left and Andrew Velazquez at short. Velazquez and Gardner both had two hits.
Velazquez helped create the Yankees’ run when he led off the third with a single, stole second, moved to third on a fly ball to right and scored on Rizzo’s single.
The Yankees have scored only one run in their last 21 innings and have managed only 14 hits in that span, all singles.
Kirk hit his second homer of the night, this one off Clay Holmes, to make it 5-1 in the eighth. It was the Blue Jays' seventh home run against the Yankees in two days.
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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