TORONTO -- As the Yankees and Blue Jays battled for the American League East title and in the AL Division Series in 2025, New York did so with a main piece of its rotation sidelined.
That, of course, was Gerrit Cole, who spent last summer recovering from Tommy John surgery, unable to leave his mark on the intradivision rivalry.
In Friday night's 3-1 loss at Rogers Centre, Cole and the Blue Jays renewed acquaintances for the first time since Aug. 4, 2024, with the veteran right-hander working six innings with two runs (one earned) and five strikeouts on 87 pitches (57 strikes).
Despite Cole delivering five scoreless innings to begin his start, things got a little weird in the sixth. Toronto pushed a pair of runs across as New York missed out on a chance to escape the frame.
With one out and runners on first and second, Cole forced George Springer to hit a ground ball to third baseman Ryan McMahon, who fielded the ball, stepped on his base and threw to first with a chance at keeping the Yankees’ 1-0 lead.
McMahon’s throw was low, however, allowing Springer to reach. To make matters worse, first baseman Luis García Jr.’s glove came off before he grabbed the loose ball and threw back to third, where no one was covering, bringing Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in to score.
Alejandro Kirk, the very next batter, then doubled to score Springer as the go-ahead run.
The evening got off to a solid start for Cole, who worked around some trouble in the second inning -- stranding runners at second and third -- before settling in to retire the next nine batters he faced.
Cole attacked Blue Jays hitters with fastballs early and often -- continuing a recent trend that has seen him throwing more heaters -- using the pitch 64% of the time while also selectively mixing in his slider, knuckle-curve and changeup.
Toronto represents one of the lineups that Cole has stared down most often in his career. Friday’s matchup was his 19th start against the Blue Jays over his 13 Major League seasons, and it’s a matchup that he has consistently excelled in.
Cole entered the evening with a career 9-2 record and a 2.75 ERA in 111 1/3 innings against the Blue Jays. He had allowed two earned runs or fewer in 13 of those previous 17 outings.
While perhaps it didn’t reach the heights of his previous few outings, Friday continued a string of quality starts for the 2023 AL Cy Young Award winner. Over Cole’s previous seven appearances, he had pitched to a 2.72 ERA while racking up 53 strikeouts over 43 innings.