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NEW YORK – Gerrit Cole against the Indians?
Let’s see, a Cy Young candidate who entered Sunday’s game with 15 wins and the second most strikeouts in the AL at 224 against a team that was only hit four times – three by standards. MLB officials and one of the off-board variety.
How do you think a match like this would go and did you have Cole in the pool without a hit? Did you take pity on rookie right-hander Eli Morgan who took the mound against the mighty Yankees?
As they say, baseball is a fun game. The Indians beat Cole and the Yankees, 11-1, on a pleasant September afternoon in the Bronx. Cole failed to make it past sixth and Morgan skated six on the biggest stage in baseball.
Just in case you were wondering, yes, Jose Ramirez loves New York. Ramirez hit his 35th home run, his second in as many days, scored four runs and went 4 for 4 on Sunday with three RBIs. He went 6-for-10 with seven runs, two homers and four RBIs in the series.
In 22 games at the House Ruth Didn’t Build – the new Yankee Stadium opened in 2009 – Ramirez is hitting 0.474 (36 for 76) with six doubles, nine homers, 18 RBIs, 21 points and five steals. If the Indians don’t want to extend his contract, why don’t the Yankees trade for him?
“I just feel comfortable hitting here,” Ramirez said, via translator Agustin Rivero.
Ramirez performed the series in front of his family and several friends.
“Some players say they see the ball better in some parks,” said interim manager DeMarlo Hale. “José is such a good hitter. He always has a plan. He is constant in his approach. He will have ups and downs, but there is a consistency about him that is seen every day.
“You know what, he’s a big threat in the middle of this training.”
The only Indian player who didn’t appreciate Sunday was Harold Ramirez despite a great start to the day. In his first two at bat, Harold Ramirez had two career-high hits and four RBIs. In the third set, however, he hit the right wall of the pitch in pursuit of a home run from Gio Urshela and left the match with a right shoulder injury.
Hale said Harold Ramirez was removed for precautionary reasons.
“He felt a lot better after the game,” Hale said. “He said he could throw, but he didn’t know if he could let go. He hit that wall hard.
Morgan (3-7, 5.68), after what he called an uncompetitive performance against Milwaukee, limited the Yankees to one point on six hits. He struck out three strikes and failed to produce a goalscorer on his first start in the Bronx. Morgan lived in the hitting zone, throwing 73% (62-for-85) of his shots for strikes and was helped by two double plays.
“There’s nothing worse than having a bad start and sitting there for a while,” Morgan said. “I had an extended wait too. You only have to focus on one thing at a time when it happens. This week I had to throw two enclosures and I focused on throwing the fastball for a strike.
Morgan’s best pitch is a change, but he walked away with fastballs and sliders and it worked on Sunday.
“It feels good,” Morgan said. “It doesn’t solve anything. This year has been ups and downs for me. You take the good days with the bad. Today was a good day and I was able to enjoy the rest of the night. Tomorrow will be the same whether I have a good start or a bad start. . .you have to go back to work.
If the Yankees don’t make it to the playoffs – they opened the half-day game with the second wild card – they’ll remember that streak. They beat Cleveland 8-0 on Friday, but were on the wrong end of 11-3 and 11-1 on Saturday and Sunday.
Cole (15-8, 3.03) allowed seven runs and 10 hits, a season-high. In his last five regular season starts against the Indians, they have reached 0.161 (19 to 118). On Sunday, they hit 0.400 (10 for 25).
When the Indians crossed out two runs in the first, it looked like this start against Cole would be different. He was 5-1 against them early in the game, including two playoff wins.
Cole punched Bradley Zimmer to start the match. Jose Ramirez walked on a walk with an out and Bobby Bradley slid an infield single along the third base line to load the goals. Harold Ramirez rebounded just one pass to first base to make it 2-0.
The Indians did not stop scoring from that moment. Harold Ramirez made it 4-0 with a two-strikeout single down center in the third. Jose Ramirez and Roberto Perez hit the first home runs in the fifth and sixth to make it 7-1.
Yu Chang made it 8-1 with another two-out single in the eighth and Jose Ramirez completed his dissection of the New York pitching staff with a two-runner goal-laden single in the eighth. The Indians added an unearned run in the ninth as the Yankees seemed to lose interest.
The Indians won that series, 2-1, to complete a 4-2 trip to Minneapolis and New York. They lost the season series to the Yankees, 4-3.
Next: The Indians open their final homestand of the regular season with a four-game streak against the Royals. They will play a traditional doubles schedule on Monday with the first match starting at 4:10 pm. RHP Triston McKenzie (5-6, 4.28) will start Game 1 with the Royals starting RHP Brady Singer (4-10, 4.85). The starters for the second game have not been announced.
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