Gerrit Cole, Ian Hamilton, & Bronx Bombers Beat Tigers. NY 6 Detroit 2

August 31, 2023 paperbacklou 2023 0
Gerrit Cole strikes out Detroits' Akil Baddoo

Gerrit Cole pitched 6 solid innings, Ian Hamilton threw a 3-inning save, and the Yankees got homeruns from Gleyber Torres, Giancarlo Stanton, and DJ LeMahieu to beat the Tigers in Detroit, 6-2 on a Wednesday night.

It was NY’s 3rd win in a row.

Easy. The way it was supposed to be.

“I feel like his fastball is in a really good place right now,” said manager Aaron Boone afterwards about Cole’s start when asked if it seemed like a bit of a grind. “So I guess workmanlike but I thought he was pretty solid.”

On Gleyber, Boone said “I honestly think he’s hit better than even his numbers suggest. He’s been really consistent. It’s been quality at bats from jump street, and it’s good to see him have a month like this where he’s really put it together and gotten good results.”

NY is now 65-68, in dead last 3.5 behind Boston, and 10 behind the Wild Card. Detroit falls to 59-74.

1. Cole Solid

Gerrit Cole‘s fastball was blazing, but didn’t have his best stuff on other pitches so soldiered a bit through the start.

  • Cole pitched a 1-2-3 inning in the 1st,
  • Worked around a 1-out infield single in the 2nd,
  • Allowed a solo homer to Rogers in the 3rd,
  • Allowed a leadoff infield single in the 4th but got a double play,
  • Allowed a 1-out walk in the 5th, and
  • Allowed a solo homer to Spencer Torkelson in the 6th before striking out the last 2 batters he faced.

Not a bad performance for someone whose overall stuff wasn’t at optimum.

“Yea it (the fastball) was pretty good today,” said Gerrit Cole afterwards. “But the delivery was a little out of whack tonight. A few too many jerked pitches. I definitely made my fair share of mistakes and got away with them, so feel there’s room for improvement. Ben did a great job tonite taking the types of misses we were having and using them to our advantage and keeping them off balance as we progressed through the game with the sequencing.”

Cole wins to go 12-4 2.95 with a 1.04 WHIP and is considered by many to be the leader in the Cy Young race.

  • Elsewhere Sonny Gray pitched 7 shutout innings for Minnesota to take over the AL lead in ERA but he doesn’t have Cole’s wins — Gray is 7-6 2.92 with a 1.17 WHIP.
  • Nathan Eovaldi remains frozen at 11-3 2.69 with a 1.01 WHIP since the middle of July due to injury but is due to start pitching soon.
  • Zach Eflin is 13-8 3.40 with a 1.02 WHIP
  • Luis Castillo is 11-7 3.01 with a league-leading 1.00 WHIP.
  • Logan Gilbert is 12-5 3.66 with a 1.05 WHIP,
  • George Kirby is 13-8 3.40 with a 1.03 WHIP, and
  • Chris Bassitt is 13-7 3.81 with a 1.19 WHIP.

2. Gleyber Steals a Run in the 1st

Detroit’s starter was TBA going in — announced as Brendan White before game time, a 5’11 24-year-old righty from White Plains NY who grew up a Yankee fan.

The Yanks pounced in the top of the 1st — after White struck out DJ LeMahieu and Aaron Judge leading off the game, Gleyber Torres walked, stole 2nd, and scored on a Giancarlo Stanton single.

Anthony Volpe was hit by a pitch and Harrison Bader, still on the Waiver List waiting for another team to scoop him up by September 1st, singled to load the bases.

White hit Everson Pereira with a pitch to force in a run and it was 2-0 NY.

And there went Brendan White — replaced by Joey Wentz who got Oswald Peraza to end the inning with bases loaded.

3. LeMahieu HR in the 2nd

DJ LeMahieu hit a solo homer off Wentz in the top of the 2nd — 411 feet to left center — for a 3-0 NY lead.

LeMahieu has been hot the second half of the season, coincidentally after the Yankees changed hitting coaches. He is now slashing 13-35-.243 (.322 OBP) and said afterwards he is feeling very confident at the plate again.

4. Pereira RBI in the 3rd

After getting hit by a pitch in the 1st, Anthony Volpe led off the 3rd with a double, and stole 3rd base — reminisces of what Randy Arozarena did to the Yankees on Sunday.

Harrison Bader struck out by Everson Pereira singled through the left side to score Volpe for a 4-0 NY lead.

5. Gleyber & Stanton Back-to-Back HR’s in the 4th

And then in the top of the 4th the Yanks put the game into a good place when Gleyber Torres and Giancarlo Stanton hit back-to-back and belly-to-belly homers.

Gleyber’s hit a 372-foot drive to right center for a 5-0 NY lead.

Next batter Giancarlo Stanton hit a 425-foot BOMB to center. NY 6 Detroit 0.

6. Hamilton Takes Over

Ian Hamilton took over in the 7th, and pitched a 3-inning save. He walked 1 batter (with 2 outs in the 7th) but got the other 9 guys out, including a 1-2-3 inning in the 8th and 9th for the old ballgame.

The Boxscore

https://www.espn.com/mlb/boxscore/_/gameId/401473016

 

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