As the baseball axiom goes, managers often make themselves look smart by calling a team meeting right before a game started by their unquestioned ace.
Gerrit Cole, however, couldn’t back up manager Aaron Boone’s closed-door vow to start a “turnaround.”
The Yankees ace was shelled for a season-worst six runs in four innings Saturday in The Bronx in a 8-1 loss to the Red Sox.
He was tagged for a second-inning grand slam by No. 9 hitter Luis Urias and a two-run shot by No. 8 hitter Connor Wong one inning later as the sinking Yankees suffered their seventh consecutive defeat to fall three games under .500 (60-63) with 39 remaining.
“They had a good day. They’re major-league quality hitters and they put together some quality at-bats,” Cole said.
“Urias just demolished a slider. It was just right there on the corner, down and away.
“It was a beautiful pitch, but a better swing.”
The six-time All-Star came into the game among the front-runners for the AL Cy Young Award, boasting a 2.55 ERA in 11 games following a Yankees loss, with the team winning nine of those games.
Saturday marked the fifth start this season in which Cole (10-4) gave up more than three runs, as his ERA rose from 2.76 to 3.03.
“They had some long at-bats. They were able to spoil a lot of pitches on him, outlast him a little bit,” Boone said.
“It was a soft field out there, Harrison [Bader] slipped on one ball that prolonged that [second inning] and set up the big home run [by Urias]. Just not quite his day.”
Cole has had a few of those against the Red Sox since joining the Yankees in 2020.
Counting two playoff games, he is now 5-6 with an ERA over 5.00 in 14 starts against Boston in that span.
“Yeah, it’s been either very good or very tough, you said it,” Cole said, repeating a question from a reporter. “Obviously not my best stuff today, but I put a lot of well-located pitches and paired a lot of good pitches together.
“I’m just a little bit confused why the level of execution on their side is so high. … Not only did they capitalize on poor pitches, but they capitalized on really good pitches.
“It’s baseball, it’s tough sometimes,” he added. “If I leave a pitch down the middle to Urias, if I just scuff a pitch that’s not competitive, OK. … But I put a 91 mph slider perfectly on the corner and it leaves the park.
“That’s gotta be the only pitch I threw there all year that I haven’t gotten back.”
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