CLEVELAND — It’s sort of a shame that, for how well Gerrit Cole pitched in a must-win American League Division Series Game 4 that the Yankees won 4–2, the most memorable image will be of his one mistake.
The score was 3–1 in the bottom of the fourth inning when Cole left a 97-mph four-seamer over the plate. Guardians designated hitter Josh Naylor mashed it 405 feet to right field for a solo home run. The ball had scarcely landed before Naylor began celebrating by pretending to rock a baby as he rounded first base. He briefly set the baby down around second, then picked it back up by third base, at which point he appeared to shout, toward the Cleveland dugout, “That’s my little f------ son!”
Afterward, Cole deadpanned, “Yeah. Whatever. It’s cute.” He added, “I just was made aware of it. I didn't see it in the moment, and it wouldn't have bothered me in the moment, and it just is kind of funny, so. …” He smiled and trailed off.
Naylor did not speak to reporters after the game, but MLB.com reported that the celebration is indeed intended to indicate that Naylor is the pitcher’s daddy.
If there was a question of paternity, Cole seems to have answered it. Four days after staking New York to a Game 1 win, his second straight strong outing in this ALDS saved the Yankees’ season and forced a decisive Game 5, scheduled for Monday in New York.
An already shaky bullpen was further disrupted by a rain delay that meant the teams will play four games in four days, with two flights stuffed in there, and the Yankees needed length from Cole nearly as much as they needed dominance. He provided both: seven innings of two-run ball, with eight strikeouts of the best bat-to-ball team in the majors.
He was good enough in Tuesday’s Game 1, catcher José Trevino said, that they did not adjust the game plan at all for Game 4. Cole said, “Just prepare for [first baseman Gabriel Arias, who did not play in Game 1] and kept the ball rolling on the guys that we had faced earlier. So just approach it as if they were continuous at bats.”
If that sounds simple, that’s because it was. And so was his success on Sunday. “He made good pitches,” Trevino said. “Fastball for strikes, curveball for strikes, slider for strikes.”
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This is the man the Yankees hoped they were signing for nine years and $324 million before the 2020 season. He allowed three runs in two innings in the AL wild card game in ’21 against the Red Sox, and he was prone to big innings this season, but he has focused recently on keeping the moment small.
He never let things get out of hand Sunday. The leadoff man reached base in each of the first three innings, but Cole never seemed to panic. The only run before Naylor’s homer came in the third, when a walk, a lineout, a fielder’s choice and a single put runners at first and second with two outs. Guardians third baseman José Ramírez, who has tormented the Yankees with perfectly placed bloops this series, dropped a slider in between left fielder Aaron Hicks and shortstop Oswaldo Cabrera to drive in a run—but then was thrown out trying to take second.
Naylor led off the next inning with that home run; he is now 5-for-18 with three dingers and five strikeouts against Cole in six games, three regular-season and three postseason. Cole set down 12 of the next 13 hitters, including back-to-back strikeouts of the last two batters Boone was prepared to let him face.
“Just a huge, big-time performance in this environment and to get us back home,” Boone said.
When they return there, they will likely be glad the bullpen needed to cover only six outs in Game 4. The team has been sparing in its use of closer Clay Holmes, recovering from a capsule strain in his shoulder, but he should be able to pitch on Monday after throwing 17 pitches on Sunday. Even lefty Wandy Peralta, who appeared in his third straight game on Sunday, might be available.
Only Cole is likely to be unable to pitch. He did his job on Sunday. If the rest of the team can do the same on Monday, they will find themselves one step closer to the only image they want to remember: that of themselves lifting a trophy.
