Offensive Woes & 1 Bad Defensive Play Blow Good Cole Start. Toronto 3 NY 1

August 15, 2026 paperbacklou 2026 0
Trent Grisham hits solo HR in top of 6th off Shane Bieber to put NY ahead 1-0.

Gerrit Cole was pitching a shutout in the 6th when an inning-ending double play was not scooped by Luis Garcia Jr. at 1st base, and then he compounded the issue by trying to throw a runner out at 3rd and threw the ball into left field — allowing the tying run to score for a 1-1 game.

An RBI double by Alejandro Kirk followed, and Kirk hit an insurance HR in the 8th off Yankee rookie Bradley Hanner to send NY to a bitter 3-1 defeat in Toronto on a Friday night.

Cole and the bullpen were not able to make the 1 run they were given — on a Trent Grisham solo HR off Shane Bieber in the 6th — stand up. The Yanks peppered Bieber and the Toronto bullpen but couldn’t come up with the big hit or sac fly to score additional runs. A runner was thrown out at 3rd, a runner was stranded at 3rd with 1 out, fly balls were caught at the centerfield wall, etc.

“It was another night where I thought we made decent contact, and were having some of the right at bats — but at the end of the day we have to push runs across where we have opportunities because that’s where we’ve struggled,” said manager Aaron Boone afterwards.

NY drops to 68-54, still 6.5 behind Tampa and 3 ahead of Boston, who both also lost. Toronto improves to 60-64, 15.5 games out.

1. Cole Tough

Gerrit Cole wasn’t perfect — but he was tough, getting out of a few jams and motoring in the middle innings.

He walked a batter in the 1st but got a doubleplay to end the inning.

Cole then walked catcher Alejandro Kirk (5-21-.269, .341 OBP) and allowed a double to shortstop Andres Gimenez (8-48-.248) with 1 out in the 2nd — but got out of the jam by striking out 3rd baseman Kazuma Okamoto (24-71-.227) and getting leftfielder Jesus Sanchez (8-32-.263) to ground out to 2nd where Jazz Chisholm Jr. made a fine play to end the inning.

Cole then pitched a 1-2-3 inning in the 3rd and 4th, and threw a shutout 6th — allowing a 1-out single but getting a strikeout and groundout to keep the score 0-0.

2. Bieber Tough Too

Shane Bieber was tough too in the pitchers’ duel. The 31-year-old, 6’3 righty mixed a 93-MPH fastball with a lot of 83-MPH knuckle curves. He pitched a 1-2-3 inning in the 1st and allowed just a 1-out single to Jazz Chisholm Jr. in the 2nd.

The Yanks peppered him in the 3rd with a leadoff walk by Austin Wells, a fielder’s choice groundout by George Lombard Jr. and a single to right by Trent Grisham — but Lombard was thrown out at 3rd. Instead of runners on the corners with 1 out — it was 2 outs and runner on 1st, and Ben Rice grounded out to end the inning.

Spencer Jones led off the 4th with a double — and Luis Garcia Jr. flied out to center moving Jones to 3rd with 1 out — but Jazz Chisholm Jr. hit a shallow fly to center to blow the sac fly. Insult to injury Heliot Ramos hit a drive to deep center, caught at the warning track for the final out.

Bieber then pitched a 1-2-3 inning in the 5th and the score remained 0-0.

3. Grisham HR Puts Yanks Up 1-0 in 6th

Bieber finally blinked in the top of the 6th, when Trent Grisham led off by hitting a 2-0, 91-MPH fastball 359 feet to right for a 1-0 Yankee lead.

4. Boone Ejected for Arguing Balls & Strikes

Bieber got the next 3 outs — fly out, ground out, and strike out of Luis Garcia Jr. During the at bat to Garcia, Yank manager Aaron Boone was thrown out for arguing balls and strikes with the home plate ump.

5. Garcia Error Coughs Up 2 Runs in Bottom of 6th

So NY had a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the 6th with Gerrit Cole on the mound and cruising — when Batemen led off with a single.

Cole got Nathan Lukes to hit a comebacker — and Cole pivoted and double clutched before starting an attempted double play — 2nd to 1st — but the double clutch cost him, and Lukes was safe at 1st.

With 1 out, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. singled to left to put runners on 1st and 2nd with 1 out.

George Springer hit a grounder to 3rd that Ryan McMahon fielded, stepped on 3rd for the force and threw a 1-hopper to 1st that Luis Garcia Jr. could not come up with — the ball bounding off his glove. He picked it up and threw to 3rd to nail the runner — unfortunately nobody was on 3rd — George Lombard Jr. was there but not in a position to catch the ball — and collided with Guerrero as the ball went into left field. Guerrero got up and scored.

Next batter Alejandro Kirk doubled to left and it was 2-1 Toronto, before Cole struck out Gimenez to end the ridiculously frustrating inning.

Bieber would end up winning the game. His line: 6 IP, 4 hits, 1 run, 5 K’s, 1 walk. He is now 4-2 4.99.

Cole would end up losing the game. His line: 6 IP, 5 hits, 2 runs, 1 earned, 5 K’s, 2 walks. He is now 6-6 3.22.

6. Blackburn Holds Fort

Paul Blackburn got into and out of a jam in the 7th — allowing consecutive 2-out singles but getting the final out to keep the score 2-1 Toronto.

7. Kirk Hits Insurance HR in 8th

But 27-year-old rookie Bradley Hanner wasn’t so successful in his first MLB appearance. The 6’4 righty struck out pinch-hitter Charles McAdoo and George Springer to start the bottom of the 8th, using a 93-MPH fastball to set up an 83-MPH sweeper. But Alejandro Kirk but a 93-MPH fastball over the right centerfield wall for a 3-1 game.

8. Toronto Pen Shuts Yanks Out

35-year-old, 6’3 righty Tyler Rogers came in for the 7th in a 2-1 game, and first batter Jazz Chisholm Jr. rocked one to deep center for a fly out — if he had only hit that kind of ball in the 4th with the runner on 3rd and 1 out.

Heliot Ramos then tagged a deep fly ball to center, also playable, and Ryan McMahon singled with 2 outs. But Rogers got Austin Wells to pop out for the final out.

Rogers got the first out of the 8th, then 25-year-old, 6’2 lefty Mason Fluharty came in and got 2 outs.

Louis Varland pitched the 9th — getting ground out, ground out, fly out for the old ballgame.

The Boxscore

https://www.espn.com/mlb/boxscore/_/gameId/401816522

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