Irked Cole wags finger at Mariners as Yankees end 4-game skid - ESPN

NEW YORK — Gerrit Cole wagged a finger 15 times at Mariners manager Scott Servais and threw a pitch to Jose Caballero that landed high up on the backstop.

Cole's message was clear: Don't mess with me.

«Sometimes a high fastball can be a really effective pitch. Got to change eye level,» the New York Yankees ace deadpanned after a 3-1 win over Seattle on Tuesday night that stopped a four-game losing streak.

Boosted by Anthony Rizzo's RBI double in the first inning and Billy McKinney's two-run homer in the second, New York improved to 7-0 when Cole pitches after a Yankees loss. Cole is 4-0 with a 1.87 ERA in those starts.

His 0-2 pitch to Caballero was as clear as an all-uppercase tweet.

«I think that raised their antenna,» Yankees manager Aaron Boone said.

Caballero stepped out repeatedly during his first two at-bats until the pitch clock was down to the 8-second requirement to be in the batter's box and alert. Caballero walked to the edge of the circle after taking a called strike with two outs in the seventh, fouled off the next pitch and walked to the edge again, then returned and called his one allowed timeout.

Cole responded with a 97 mph fastball 10-15 feet above the batter's head.

«He didn't like the way I was manipulating the pitch clock, but he just got excited, so that's good,» Caballero said. «The rules are there for all of us, and I just had to be ready at 8 seconds.»

Caballero swung past a full-count fastball, and Cole stared at him as he walked off the mound. Cole turned to the Mariners' dugout and wagged his right index finger over and over.

«Their manager had some choice words for me coming off the field and he was wagging his finger at me, so I wagged my finger at him,» Cole said.

Plate umpire Dan Bellino