Yankees' Boone: Decision to stay with Cole 'falls on me' - ESPN

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