Gerrit Cole had himself a rocky night against the Minnesota Twins on Thursday.
The New York Yankees‘ ace took the mound for the series finale, hoping to pitch the Yankees to a series victory over Minnesota.
However, it didn’t go according to plan for the veteran right-hander, as he allowed seven runs over just 2.1 innings.
He also surrendered five home runs.
In fact, the first three hitters he faced hit home runs last night.
According to ESPN Stats and Info on Twitter, it was the first time the Twins had ever started off a game with three straight homers, and Cole got the dubious honor of being the first pitcher in Yankees history to allow three straight homers to start a game.
This is the first time in @Twins history that they begin a game with back-to-back-to-back HR…
And Gerrit Cole is the first pitcher in Yankees history to allow 3 HR to the first 3 batters of any game pic.twitter.com/zFACMssl6a
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) June 10, 2022
A Trying Night
Lucky for Cole, the bats picked him up and helped the Yankees secure the series victory.
But my goodness, what a rough outing for one of the game’s best pitchers.
That’s one way for your ERA to be inflated.
Luckily, Cole is still at 3.63, which isn’t great by his standards, but at least he’s under four.
In no way, shape, or form was this a good start for Cole, but it’s quite the accomplishment for the Twins to start a game with three straight homers against him.
It sucks for Cole though to have to be the guy who becomes the first pitcher in Yankees history to surrender three straight longballs at the start of a game.
That’s not the way any pitcher wants to start a ballgame.
But Cole is lucky in that the bats came alive and took him off the hook for the loss.
Surely, his next start won’t be this bad.
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