Bronx, NY—The NY Yankees must have some special water delivered to Yankees Stadium because their starting rotation is not only giving length but Jameson Taillon and Gerrit Cole almost pitched no-no in their last starts.
Cole (5-1) pitched flawlessly onto the seventh inning a night after teammate Taillon lost his no-hitter in the eighth, Aaron Judge led the hit parade with four hits that included a homer—the NY Yankees (37-15) lived up to their moniker and spanked the Detroit Tigers 13-0 on Friday night in front 42,026 fans.
Judge became the first player in the majors with 20 home runs after blasting a solo homer to right in the third inning. The ball landed just in front of the famous Judge’s Chambers cheering section. He smoked an RBI single off Harold Castro’s 59 mph changeup in the eighth for his fourth hit of the game.
Cole signed a $324 million deal in 2019 and he is earning every cent of it. It was only fitting the Judge led the offensive wattage in a stadium packed for his bobblehead night. Manny Bañuelos finally pitched for the Bombers, living out a teenage dream that came to fruition.
“I heard them chanting my name, which was pretty magical,” Cole said.
Jose Trevino, Anthony Rizzo, and Matt Carpenter also homered for New York against rookie Elvin Rodriguez (0-1), got roughed up for 10 runs in his third big league appearance. The major league-leading Bombers won their last eight of 10 games putting the brakes to the fourth-place Detroit Tigers (21-31).
Jonathan Schoop spoiled Cole’s night with two outs in the seventh. He hit a grounder up the middle, just off the glove of the diving DJ LeMahieu, who made a spectacular play against Harold Castro a play before that.
“Got to the corner, but not quite as much break as we would’ve liked,” Cole said of the pitch.
Bañuelos relieved Cole for his first major league appearance since 2019 and closed the game out allowing three weak hits. A top Yankees prospect in 2008, Banuelos pitched with clubs leagues in Mexico and Taiwan on his track back to the Majors.
Cole overpowered the Tigers with a fastball of 100 mph plus, dominating a team that entered Friday averaging 2.86 runs per contest, worst in the majors since the 1968 White Sox.
Miguel Cabrera tacked on another hit by smashing a single through the hole and into right field, but Javier Báez stranded his teammates when he struck out swinging on Cole’s wicked slider.
“He was in complete control of virtually every at-bat,” Detroit manager A.J. Hinch told reporters.
Cole is the eighth consecutive Yankees starter to cover at least six innings, the best stretch for the franchise since a nine-game streak in 2016.
“I think anytime you’re a close-knit group like those guys are and you’re challenging each other and learning from one another, I think that environment is one that you have a better chance to thrive in,” New York manager Aaron Boone said. “So I think that’s happening.”
Cole, who lowered his ERA to 2.78 had 9K’s and threw 73 of 102 pitches went for strikes.
JD IS BACK IN THE HOUSE
Josh Donaldson (shoulder) was activated from the 10-day injured list and was in the lineup for the Bombers for the first time since being suspended by Major League Baseball for a remark about Jackie Robinson to Chicago White Sox Tim Anderson. Donaldson was 0 for 3 with two walks.
After the game, the Yankees optioned INF/OF Miguel Andújar to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. They also reinstated OF Tim Locastro from the 10-day injured list and optioned him to Triple-A.
UP NEXT:
Yankees Louis Severino (3-1, 3.38 ERA) faces Tigers rookie RHP Beau Brieske (0-4, 5.25) in the middle leg of a three-game set Saturday. Brieske has allowed 10 homers in seven starts.
