Gerrit Cole turned in vintage performance when Yankees badly needed it

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The Yankees, losers of four in a row, desperately needed a win on Wednesday night to stop the bleeding and make up ground in the AL East.

So, they turned to their ace, who pitched like one with a dominant seven-inning performance to get the Yankees back in win column.

Gerrit Cole did just what the Yankees hoped he would do when they signed him to a record-breaking contract before last season, allowing just one run on four hits while striking out a season-high 15 batters, turning in one of his best performances of the season, as the Yanks gained a game on the Rays.

“We were executing really well,” Cole said. “Four pitches, I thought that we were unpredictable and able to use the fastball and challenge guys over the plate once we had the lead, so that’s helpful.”

Cole boasted one of his best fastballs of the season, getting 18 swings and misses on his heater while averaging 98.1 mph. After logging 106 pitches through six innings, he came back out in the seventh and breezed through a 10-pitch frame with two strikeouts to end his outing.

“The fastball was pretty good, certainly well-located, but with a little bit of a lead and some offspeed chases from guys…I just thought there were some opportunities to just go after a few guys,” Cole said. When a solid home run isn’t gonna beat you or tie you, it allows you to pound the strike zone.

“I was pretty much putting it where I wanted to.”

That was apparent with how many bats Cole missed, a career-high 32 whiffs to be exact. Cole has continued to look like the pitcher he was earlier in the season, like the trusted arm that could dominate a one-game playoff, as he has now allowed just two earned runs in four starts since returning from the COVID-19 list.

But even earlier this season, Cole wasn’t generating swings and misses at a rate like he did on Wednesday night, when New York badly needed a vintage performance.

“I think it’s a good indicator that it’s a combination of stuff, mixing speeds, changing the hitters timing and location,” Cole said.

Follow Ryan Chichester on Twitter: @ryanchichester1

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