New York Yankees ace Gerrit Cole took an interesting strategy against rival Boston Red Sox, but the result was bad.
Cole started the home game against the Boston Red Sox at Yankee Stadium on Saturday, but was sluggish in 41/3 innings with five hits, three walks, two strikeouts and seven runs. His team lost 1-7, and he lost the game. He lost five games (6 wins) for this season.
He scored no runs until the third inning, but suddenly collapsed after the fourth inning.
One controversial decision changed the mood. Without runners on base in the fourth inning, Cole sent Raphael Devers to an intentional walk. Devers walked out to first base looking puzzled.
“I made a strategic choice in consideration of what he did well against me in the past,” Cole said in an interview with local media such as the “YES Network” after the game, explaining that Devers’ intentional dune was planned.
Until the game on the day, Devers was particularly strong in Cole’s performance. He had eight home runs and 13 hits in 39 times at bat. Devers faced the most home runs, and Cole took the most home runs.
After discussions with his pitching coach and manager during the inning, he said, “We had to throw carefully against Devers. He could have not thrown any strikes. Under such circumstances, some suggested sending him to the mound on purpose. It was the most efficient way to allow a walk, and hence the conclusion was to send him to the mound on purpose.”
Consequently, this strategy did not work. Cole quickly collapsed afterwards. He allowed Devers to steal a base, allowed Tyler O’Neill to a walk, and Masataka Yoshida, who also allowed a double to tie the game 1-1. He then allowed Willier Abreu to garner a hit to the right, and allowed two runs.
In the fifth inning, with the bases loaded with one out, Devers allowed a hit to the right, allowing two runs again, and gave up a timely hit to Yoshida again and allowed an additional run.
The pitch was so bad that Cole allowed only three pitches. “I had to throw the ball as planned after that, but I couldn’t. If I had thrown as planned, the plan would have been successful,” Cole said, confessing that he is largely responsible for not throwing the ball properly. 먹튀검증
Cole even beat Devers in the first inning. Boston manager Alex Cora said, “Cole doesn’t want to play against Devers. This is the conclusion,” claiming that he intended to throw balls.
“He can trust anything he wants. But I’m not a pitcher who hits someone intentionally,” Cole said. “I didn’t mean to.”
