NEW YORK -- From Gerrit Cole’s vantage point, the problem seems easy to identify. Over his last two starts, opponents are seeing the ball too well against him, allowing them to square their swings to belt drives that have carried over the outfield walls.
Anyone could likely decipher that from watching the highlights. The bigger challenge is fixing it, which Cole and the Yankees’ staff will work to do after he surrendered three home runs en route to a fifth-inning knockout in a 12-2 loss to the Mets on Saturday.
“I think it’s something that we’ve got to figure out, for sure,” Cole said. “It’s just one of those times in the season that you’ve got to start making adjustments. Sometimes adjustments are hard, but that’s the demand of the game. You’ve got to find a way to get through it and go forward.”
Francisco Lindor belted a leadoff home run off Cole, offering an unpleasant reminder of the right-hander’s previous start against the Padres at Petco Park, where he surrendered three consecutive blasts to open the game -- the only pitcher in Major League history to do that twice in a career.
Cole didn’t repeat that feat on Saturday, but unlike the San Diego start, he wasn’t able to settle in. Luis Torrens cracked a two-run shot in the second inning, and rookie Carson Benge lifted a solo blast in the third off Cole, who was tagged for five runs and nine hits over 4 1/3 innings.
“He’s one of the best pitchers in the game,” Lindor said. “We have a crazy amount of respect for him. But he made a couple mistakes, and we made him pay.”
Swing-and-miss has become more difficult for Cole to come by; he generated just three whiffs out of 40 swings (8%).
“The stuff looked OK, but he wasn’t getting it to places he needed to get to, and they made him pay for it,” manager Aaron Boone said. “They really didn’t miss.”
Juan Soto offered much the same review: “We didn’t miss the ball. We had success. We swung the bats the right way. We picked our moments, and we capitalized.”
Cole has allowed seven homers across his last two starts, his most in any two-game span in his career. That offers potential cause for concern after a seamless rehab from Tommy John surgery and mostly strong outings following his return to the rotation in late May.
Boone expressed confidence that Cole is equipped to figure it out.
“I think it’s just that sharpness,” Boone said. “The strike-throwing has been so good and the command has been so good all year. It’s just that next layer of command of getting it to his spots. He’ll be fine.”
Cole fell to 8-9 with a 3.67 ERA in 20 starts. He says he feels healthy, but Cole also isn’t sure how much of the recent stretch can be attributed to his return from surgery.
“It’s hard for me to pin it on one thing, because at a certain point, starting pitchers throughout the year need to make an adjustment,” Cole said. “It’s a long season. Hitters are good, offenses are good. High-stakes games with good offenses, sometimes they teach you lessons like today.”
Cody Bellinger homered and drove in both runs for the Yankees; Bellinger has gone deep in back-to-back games, and three of his last four. Otherwise, Mets rookie Zac Thornton held the Yanks in check, limiting them to two runs on five hits and one walk over seven innings.
“He just did a good job of limiting hard contact and preventing guys from getting on early,” Spencer Jones said. “He had a lot of success.”
The Mets piled on after Cole’s exit. Facing Tim Hill, Juan Soto belted a seventh-inning homer to the right-field bleachers. It was Soto’s first homer in the Bronx since leaving as a free agent after helping lead the club to the 2024 American League pennant.
Soto entered Saturday 2-for-15 at Yankee Stadium over that span.
“You have a homer where Soto outlasts you; he was making a lot of pitches to him and then he just got one up,” Boone said.
Lindor added an eighth-inning grand slam off Bradley Hanner. Despite the drubbing, the Yankees will have another opportunity to clinch a postseason spot on Sunday, should they combine a victory with a Blue Jays loss.
“This is the fun part of it, because the reward is close,” Cole said. “Getting to the postseason, being able to chase your ultimate goal -- these are the games you look forward to the most.”