Gerrit Cole is Back — & Great! But Pen and Offense Blow It. Tampa 4 NY 2

May 23, 2026 paperbacklou 2026 0
Gerrit Cole pitched 6 innings of 2-hit shutout ball.

The good news: Gerrit Cole is Back and looked Great — pitching 6 innings of 2-hit shutout ball, leaving with a 1-0 lead.

More good news: Austin Wells hit a HR to give Cole that 1-0 lead.

The bad news: Jose Caballero — just back from a finger injury — booted an easy grounder by Chandler Simpson leading off the 8th, and Tim Hill imploded, allowing 2 singles, an RBI double, and a sac fly for 4 runs as the Yankees lost to Tampa 4-2 on a cool, overcast Friday night at Yankee Stadium.

The Yankee offense also let Cole down, only scoring 2 runs. NY blew a run in the 3rd inning against Tampa Ace Nick Martinez when Trent Grisham was gunned down at the plate after a single by Ben Rice. The Yanks got a run in the 8th on a Cody Bellinger 1-out double and Jazz Chisholm Jr. 2-out, RBI triple.

Aaron Judge came up as the tying run with 2 outs in the 9th and a runner on 1st — and hit a drive to centerfield that was caught on the warning track for the final out.

“They’re starting pitching is really good,” said manager Aaron Boone about what makes Tampa so good. “And then they have 3 really lynchpin hitters in the middle of their order, and then a lot of complementary speed pieces that do a lot of different things that put pressure on you.”

NY drops to 30-22 and falls 5.5 behind Tampa, which improves to 34-15.

1. Cole Is Back — and Great

Cole got into trouble in the top of the 1st, allowing a leadoff single to the super fast Chandler Simpson. He then walked Junior Caminero so it was 1st and 2nd with nobody out. But he got Jonathan Aranda to hit a short fly out to left to hold the runners, and then picked off Simpson at 2nd base!

Cole then struck out Yandy Diaz to end the 1st.

Cole got help in the 2nd from Aaron Judge, who made a terrific diving catch for the 2nd out.

Cole then motored — throwing a 2-hit shutout through 6 innings, and leaving with a 1-0 lead.

“I thought he was really good,” said manager Aaron Boone about Cole. “They were being very aggressive with him, but I thought he did a good job of mixing his four seam with his sinker. He’d pop the four seamer and get ’em off with some good sinkers; he mixing in some good breaking balls; had enough of a presence with the changeup to keep them honest.”

2. Martinez Great Too

Nick Martinez started for the Rays. He is their Ace so far this season, having his best year ever, slashing 4-1 1.51.

Who Is Martinez?

Nick Martinez is a 35-year-old, 6’1 righty who is in his first year with Tampa after signing a 1-year, $20M contract with them this winter.

Martinez came up with the Texas Rangers and spent 4 years with them from 2014-2017 with minimal success before spending 4 years in Japan. He returned to the Majors as a reliever/spot starter with San Diego for 2022 and 2023 with moderate success, then really blossomed with Cincinnati the last 2 years — going 10-7 3.10 in 2024 and 11-14 4.45 in 2025.

Martinez does a lot of mixing of a 93-MPH sinker, 92-MPH four-seam fastball, 90-MPH cutter, 80-MPH curveball, and 78-MPH changeup.

Yanks Hit Martinez

The Yankees hit the ball hard off him but didn’t get the breaks.

Trent Grisham led off the bottom of the 1st with a double, and Aaron Judge walked behind him. But Martinez got 2 flyouts and a groundout to end the threat.

He pitched around a leadoff single by Jazz Chisholm Jr. in the 2nd — getting groundout, flyout, lineout.

Then in the 3rd, Trent Grisham led off with a double but was gunned out at the plate by Joey DeLuca on a 1-out single to right by Ben Rice. Grisham was just back from missing a game after he slightly injured his knee sliding into 2nd in a game against Toronto — and may have been running a tick slower than normal.

Martinez got more groundouts and flyouts in the 4th — allowing a 2-out single to Jose Caballero but getting a groundout to end the inning.

3. Wells HR Puts NY Up 1-0

Finally the Yanks got to Martinez with a blast to right by Austin Wells leading off the 5th. NY 1 Tampa 0.

Jose Caballero singled off Martinez in the 6th — but was caught stealing. Martinez left after 6 innings, but Ian Seymour came in and got the Yanks out 1-2-3 in the 7th.

4. Hill Blows Hold in 8th with Help from Caballero Error

And so it was to the top of the 8th — NY holding a precarious 1-0 lead, when the super fast Chandler Simpson hit a routine grounder to shortstop that Jose Caballero simply booted.

Junior Caballero then singled up the middle and here we go.

Jonathan Aranda followed with an RBI double to center to tie the game 1-1 and put runners on 2nd and 3rd with nobody out. The Yanks intentionally walked Yandy Diaz to load the bases — and Richie Palacios singled in 2 runs giving Tampa a 3-1 lead.

Camilo Doval came in, and allowed a sac fly to Ryan Vilade for a 4-1 Tampa lead.

5. Chisholm RBI Triple Gets NY within 4-2

The Yanks immediately got a run back in the bottom of the 8th. With 1 out, Cody Bellinger Just Missed a homer to right — settling for a double.

And with 2 outs, Jazz Chisholm Jr. ripped an RBI triple to right center for a 4-2 game.

But Jose Caballero grounded out to end the inning, leaving Jazz on 3rd.

6. Judge Flies Out Deep to Center for Ballgame

6’6 righty Bryan Baker came in for the save in the bottom of the 9th.

Austin Wells worked a 1 out walk, and moved to 2nd on a groundout by Paul Goldschmidt.

With 2 outs, Aaron Judge hit a drive to deep center — that was caught on the warning track for the old ballgame.

The Boxscore

https://www.espn.com/mlb/boxscore/_/gameId/401815447

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