Gerrit Cole fans 11 through seven against Pirates

Cole tossed two scoreless innings before the Angels put a run on the board on two hits in the third. He’d settle in to pitch into the sixth, recording one out and giving up two more runs on three hits before he was replaced at 90 pitches. He struck out five. The 35-year-old right-hander ends the day with a 3.29 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, and a 110/22 K/BB ratio across 104 innings into a start against the Rockies in New York next Tuesday.

Cole scattered four hits in the ballgame while allowing only one base on balls. The only blemish on his day came on a solo blast off the bat of Dylan Beavers in the fifth inning. Aside from that, he was brilliant. The 35-year-old hurler generated 15 swings and misses on his 93 offerings — seven of them on his fastball — while posting a strong CSW of 35 percent. Now 7-6 on the season, Cole will bring a 3.11 ERA, 1.07 WHIP and a 100/20 K/BB ratio (92 2/3 innings) into Wednesday’s start against the Astros.

Cole held the Jays scoreless through the first five innings but ran into some trouble in the sixth inning. He allowed a leadoff single to Brett Bateman to begin the frame, and a fielder’s choice by George Springer two batters later brought in the first run of the night for the Jays. Alejandro Kirk would double on the next at-bat to bring home Springer, giving the Jays the 2-1 lead. It’s a tough way to pick up a loss, as Cole did more than enough to position his team to pick up the win in this one. He’s allowed one earned run or less in each of his last four starts and is next scheduled to face the O’s on Thursday in Baltimore.

Cole stranded two baserunners through four scoreless innings before running into some trouble in the fifth. The Braves brought two runs in on four straight hits to start the inning. Cole would settle down, striking out two of the last three batters to get out of the jam. He gave the Yankees two more scoreless frames, ending his day after seven innings with nine strikeouts in an excellent performance. The 35-year-old right-hander will take a 3.35 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, and an 87/17 K/BB ratio across 80 2/3 innings into a start against the Blue Jays in Toronto on Friday.

The only run Cole allowed came in the fourth on an RBI single by Michael Busch. The right-hander did have some control issues with three free passes, but he worked around them with five strikeouts in another impressive outing for the 35-year-old. Cole has allowed just one run over his last two starts, and he’ll take a 3.42 ERA into a scheduled start against Atlanta. This isn’t vintage Cole, but it’s certainly effective.

Cole struck out seven over those six scoreless, and he allowed just four hits and a pair of walks while throwing 60-of-99 pitches for strikes. The 35-year-old veteran didn’t have the same swing-and-miss stuff he did against the Pirates when he whiffed 11 in his previous outing, but he was even more effective while lowering his ERA to 3.57 in the process. Cole has not pitched like a fantasy ace for the majority of 2026, but he has over his last few outings. He’s scheduled to face the Cubs on Sunday and will look to continue this impressive run.

For six innings, it seemed as if Cole was going to start the second half with a statement. It took him just 90 pitches to get through those six innings and he was in complete control throughout. Then, he walked Mookie Betts to start the seventh and missed with a few fastballs during that at-bat which he wasn’t missing with earlier. Max Muncy came up next and launched a two-run homer after a seven-pitch battle that sullied Cole’s outing and put him in line for the loss. There’s still a ton to be positive about after this start, like Cole’s thirteen total swings-and-misses with his fastball, slider, changeup, and curve each forcing multiple. It just sullied his outing when manager Aaron Boone tried to push him through that seventh inning. He’s scheduled to face the Pirates at home next time out and it’s likely he pitches better than his 3.93 ERA from this point forward.

Cole will be followed by Ryan Weathers on Saturday and Cam Schlittler on Sunday. The 35-year-old hurler had a solid first half in his return from Tommy John surgery, posting a 4.04 ERA, 1.20 WHIP and a 47/11 K/BB ratio over 49 innings of work through his first nine starts.

Cole struck out six while throwing 97 pitches, his most since returning from Tommy John surgery. The loss was the Yankees’ 11th in their past 13 contests. He has now made nine starts, and his 4.04 ERA would be his highest single-season mark since his last year with the Pirates in 2017. There’s plenty of time for the veteran to lower it, but his strikeout rate has been well below his usual standard. This was Cole’s final start of the first half. The Yankees host the Dodgers coming out of the All-Star break.

Cole retired the first two batters he faced on Friday, but gave up a solo homer to Kody Clemens with two outs in the first to give the Twins an early lead. He would later allow another run to come around and score in the fourth inning on an RBI single by Victor Caratini, but Cole was solid despite the brief four-inning appearance. The righty didn’t allow a walk all night and threw 71.8 percent of his pitches for strikes while striking out seven batters. He’ll draw a tough start next Wednesday on the road against the Rays.