NEW YORK -- Yankees manager Aaron Boone emerged from his dugout Friday night in the seventh inning of his team’s 2-1 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers unsure of his next move.
Gerrit Cole, his longtime ace, had just issued a leadoff walk to Mookie Betts with the Yankees clinging to a 1-0 lead. Boone had left-hander Brent Headrick, the club’s best reliever this season, ready in the bullpen to face Max Muncy, a left-handed-hitting masher. The manager was stuck between pulling Cole, who had been so good, and letting him face Muncy.
So Boone walked to the mound for another data point with a question: Do you have one more in you? Cole replied yes. It was enough to persuade Boone to keep him in the game.
“I was feeling the situation out,” Boone said.
Seven pitches later, after Cole got ahead 0-2, he hung Muncy a slider over the plate that the All-Star third baseman crushed into the second deck in right field for a go-ahead home run. The blast put the Dodgers ahead for good in the 2024 World Series rematch and had Boone second-guessing himself afterward.
“Sometimes you’ve got to take it out of their hands,” Boone said. “It’s tough, especially when Gerrit’s throwing the ball as well as he did tonight. But, at the same time, we’re teed up there [with Headrick]. That falls on me.”
The mistake spoiled an otherwise splendid night from the 35-year-old right-hander. In his 10th start back from Tommy John surgery, Cole looked like his vintage self against a potent Dodgers lineup. He finished with eight strikeouts to one walk, throwing a season-high 103 pitches over six innings. He lamented not throwing more first-pitch strikes, but his fastball had life and his changeup was sharp in his first start against the Dodgers since the infamous Game 5 of the 2024 World Series.
“It’s nice to push the stamina to get back out there for an extra hitter and just keep going for it, keep competing,” Cole said. “That’s a great learning opportunity physically, and obviously getting deeper into the second half. And a good learning opportunity as well that it’s not over until it’s over. You’ve got to keep making pitches, especially against a great team like the Dodgers.”
On the other side, Roki Sasaki, who entered the night with a 5.33 ERA in 16 starts, was just as good. The only run the Yankees managed against him came in the fourth inning when Jasson Dominguez lined a double to right-center field, took third base on an error from Dodgers center fielder Andy Pages and scored on a passed ball moments later.
Otherwise, Sasaki, with a triple-digit fastball and nasty splitter, pounded the strike zone and successfully challenged a Yankees lineup still without Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton. Sasaki finished the night allowing the one unearned on five hits with five strikeouts and one walk over 5⅔ innings.
“He was just mixing well,” Yankees designated hitter Ben Rice said. He’s got off-speed pitches with some good depth to them and then velo separation when he’s got that 100-plus-mph fastball in his back pocket."
It was Rice who nearly tied the game in the eighth inning. With Trent Grisham at first base after working a walk, Rice lined a double to the right-center field gap off left-hander Alex Vesia.
Grisham hesitated before going into sprint mode rounding second base and made it to third with ease. Yankees third-base coach Luis Rojas initially had the stop sign ready for Grisham before Pages’ throw to the cutoff man went offline. Rojas then decided to send Grisham home, forcing Dodgers shortstop Betts to make a flat-footed, off-balance throw to cut Grisham down.
“Mookie was on the run to have to go make the play and made a pretty good throw on the run,” Boone said. “So don’t have an issue with taking a shot.”
The Yankees went down in order in the ninth inning against left-hander Tanner Scott, leaving Muncy’s swing -- and Boone’s decision -- as the difference on a night when runs were in short supply.
“Obviously, in hindsight,” Boone said, “I probably should’ve grabbed him there.”
