Yankees Win Subway Series as Gerrit Cole’s Home-Run Rate Raises Concern
New York’s two-game advantage over the Mets did not close its four-game gap to the Tampa Bay Rays in the AL East, while Fox Sports identified questions around Gerrit Cole’s recent form.
The New York Yankees won two of three games against the New York Mets in a Subway Series in the Bronx, but the result did not alter their position in the American League East. The Yankees remained four games behind the Tampa Bay Rays in the division race.
The series was held around the reported 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks and opened with an emotional pregame ceremony. The Mets, despite being characterised by Fox Sports as enduring a lost season, were described as capable of disrupting the Yankees’ push for the division title.
Gerrit Cole emerged as the central concern for the Yankees’ starting rotation. He completed 4⅓ innings against the Mets and had allowed seven home runs over his previous 11⅓ innings.
Fox Sports reported that Cole’s 24.6 per cent strikeout rate was his lowest since 2017, while his 4.2 per cent home-run rate was tied for his highest in a full season. His wider season figures remained stronger, with a 3.67 earned-run average and 117 strikeouts in 115⅓ innings across 20 starts following his return from Tommy John surgery.
Cole said he felt healthy and attributed the recent home runs to hitters seeing the ball well. He said he needed to make adjustments, while Yankees manager Aaron Boone reportedly said Cole was not a major concern.
