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The former Pittsburgh Pirates ace was disappointed in the New York Yankees’ World Series loss

The former Pittsburgh Pirates ace was disappointed in the New York Yankees’ World Series loss

Former Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Gerrit Cole found himself in a slump for the ages when the New York Yankees lost 7-6 to the Los Angeles Dodgers and lost the World Series in five games.

Cole, who was the Pirates’ No. 1 overall pick in 2011 and played five seasons in Pittsburgh, got off to a near-perfect start. He held the Dodgers hitless for the first four innings, striking out three batters and walking two as the Yankees took a 5-0 lead.

Then the wheels started falling off.

After Dodgers center fielder Kiké Hernández’s leadoff single, Yankees center fielder Aaron Judge and center fielder Anthony Volpe committed an error by loading the bases with no outs. Cole hit Gavin Lux and Shohei Ohtani, saving one from escaping the pits. Dodgers star Mookie Betts routinely hit a ground ball to Yankees first baseman Anthony Rizzo, but Cole failed to cover first base, allowing Betts to reach base and make a run.

Then the wheels completely fell off.

The Dodgers further took advantage of countless errors as two runs by Freddie Freeman and two runs by Teoscar Hernandez yielded five unearned runs in the inning to tie the game. The five unearned runs are the most in World Series history in an elimination game, according to Yankees records Jay Cuda.

Cole returned to work after a scoreless sixth inning and left with two outs in the seventh inning and the Yankees leading 6-5. He finished his night with 6.2 innings pitched, no runs scored, gave up four hits, walked four batters and struck out six.

Cole went 1-0 with a 2.17 ERA in five playoff starts. In the World Series, he made two starts and allowed just one earned run in 12.2 innings pitched. The Yankees lost both starts because of Cole.

Friend, former Pirates pitcher Clay Holmes relieved Cole and got out of the jam, hitting Max Muncy with runners on first and second. The Dodgers completed their comeback in the top half of the eighth inning with two runs on sacrifice flies after loading the bases with no outs.

Cole went 59-42 with a 3.50 ERA, striking out 734 batters in 782 1/3 innings over five seasons at Pittsburgh from 2013-2018. Previous Pirates Ace was then traded to the Houston Astros, where he developed into one of the best pitchers in baseball.

Cole was 35-10 with a 2.68 ERA during his two-year career with the Astros before signing a nine-year, $324 million contract with New York in the 2020 offseason. Cole is 59-28 with a 3.12 ERA in in five seasons with the Yankees and won his first Cy Young Award in 2023.

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