Yankees, Gerrit Cole have no excuse for unforgivable intentional walk decision

Inexplicable. 

Even after the explanations Saturday, what occurred with one out in the fourth inning remains unfathomable for the Yankees. 

Gerrit Cole, in the midst of dominating the Red Sox, intentionally walked Rafael Devers with one out and none on in the fourth inning. Multiple times, Aaron Boone used the word “aggressive” to describe the strategy for one of the most passive moves I’ve ever seen on a baseball field. 

This was explained as a group decision, yet catcher Austin Wells said he had no idea it was coming and was not included in any discussions on the matter. Boone said that in real time he would have preferred that Cole not issue this walk intentionally, yet said he did not want to undo the choice once Cole — who put up four fingers and waved Devers to first — signaled for it. Yet, Cole said that the exact situation that arose — Jarren Duran makes an out to lead off the fourth then walk Devers intentionally — was discussed among him, Boone and pitching coach Matt Blake literally in the half inning before. 

Either there was miscommunication — unforgivable 149 games into this season — or butt-covering, which is unpardonable for the manager, the veteran ace, the whole organization or all of the above. In the end, it didn’t matter who ordered the Code Red — it was incredibly foolhardy in the moment and only grew worse with feeble explanations. 

The Yankees took the stirring good vibes of entering with consecutive extra-inning walk-off wins followed by a deciding grand slam by Aaron Judge on Friday night and flushed it to the point where it felt like the clubhouse needed a crisis counselor after a 7-1 loss to the Red Sox. Boone took longer than normal to address reporters, and Cole — who in previous bad times was always out to talk quickly — needed more than 45 minutes to offer comments. If they were trying to all get on the same page, they failed. 

Cole ultimately explained, “It was just a rough day.” 

Self-inflicted rough. 

Look, the Yankees didn’t play well. They scored just once, and if you haven’t noticed with all the talk about their long lineup, they have generally had trouble scoring recently. They again played sloppily. Alex Verdugo was thrown out trying to turn a single into a double in the third inning when he only reached his top gear after rounding first base. Jazz Chisholm Jr., who forgot how many outs there were when he was on first base in the second inning, was picked off with the tying run up in the fourth. Jasson Dominguez was caught flat-footed and unaware when Duran tagged up from first in the seventh. 

Yet, nothing will resonate quite like the bizarre decision of the fourth inning. 

The Yankees led 1-0 with one out. To that point, Cole had allowed no hits on 35 pitches and the only baserunner had been Devers, who was hit by a pitch in the first. Devers had eight career homers against Cole, but also 15 strikeouts. And also, besides Cole rolling, Devers was 10-for-57 (.175) with no homers in his previous 15 games. 

Boone said there had been talk of walking Devers in non-traditional situations. But talk about overthinking things. Why here? Even if Devers hit one onto the elevated tracks it would be 1-1. Cole said something about a short bullpen and needing to pitch deep and efficiently. Again, what does that have to do with pitching to Devers there even if he homers? 

Cole had intentionally walked just one batter since 2017, when he was a Pirate, another hitter who owned him — Ji Man Choi — but that was in Game 1 of the 2020 Division Series against Tampa Bay after Choi had homered earlier in the game. This was the fourth inning on Sept. 14 with Cole and the Yankees thriving. How could no one understand what the implications of such a cowardly act might be? This is predetermination rather than feeling the moment. 

Boston had been 0-for-9 with the hit-by-pitch before the intentional walk. They followed by going 5-for-7 with two walks, two hit-by-pitches (for Cole’s career-first three-HBP game) and two steals, including the third all year and first since early July by the lumbering Devers, who caught the Yankees asleep. It produced seven runs and drove Cole’s ERA in 15 Yankee starts against the Red Sox, playoffs included, to 6.06. Yep, a lot of that was failing against Devers, but still this was just not the right time for a walk. 

Red Sox manager Alex Cora suggested the intentional walk underscored that Cole had hit Devers purposefully in the first inning. But Cole, Wells and Boone all denied it; with Wells detailing that Devers hits balls in “extreme spots” and the attempt was to be out of the strike zone in an extreme spot but not to plunk Boston’s most dangerous hitter. 

Ultimately, with the walk, Cole unnerved himself. Every Yankee agreed they handed the Red Sox momentum. In the midst of a good run in which they were trying to win four straight for the first time since the end of July, the Yanks instead went into a full trauma with two weeks left in the season. 

They strategically blundered when no one — Wells, Cole, Boone — vetoed what was so clearly dumb and then sounded like detached amateurs after this game as everyone kind of, sort of took responsibility and yet no one actually did. 

It was unforgivable. 

Unpardonable. 

Inexplicable.