NEW YORK – Gerrit Cole paced the length of the Yankees’ dugout during the early innings of Tuesday night’s game against the White Sox, glove tucked near his belt as he wriggled his right arm, keeping it loose. The Yankees’ ace had the luxury of time to kill.
Spencer Jones, Ben Rice and Paul Goldschmidt all homered to highlight the Bombers’ attack against Chicago starter Davis Martin at Yankee Stadium, freeing Cole to pitch with a hearty lead over six innings in his fifth start since returning from Tommy John surgery.
Cole allowed three hits in a 90-pitch effort (59 for strikes), permitting two walks while striking out six in New York’s 12-2 win over Chicago.
Andrew Benintendi touched Cole for a solo homer in the first inning. Cole then retired the next 13 batters until Tristan Peters opened the sixth with a single.
Martin had permitted just three homers over his first 78 1/3 innings entering Tuesday’s game. The Yankees proved a bad match for that stat, having entered the contest leading the Majors with 102 homers.
José Caballero added a homer in the eighth off position player Luisangel Acuña as the Yankees won for the seventh time in eight games.