After flirting with perfection, Yankees ace Gerrit Cole bolsters elusive Cy Young bid

NEW YORK – Chasing after his first Cy Young award, Yankees ace Gerrit Cole was flirting with perfection into Thursday night's sixth inning at Yankee Stadium.

Alejandro Kirk's one-out double ended Cole's string, having retired the first 16 Toronto Blue Jays he faced.

After the Yankees secured a 5-3 victory in his final home start of the year, Cole said it was "too early'' to think about pursuing a perfect game in the sixth inning.

But thoughts of completing a Cy Young award season are harder to ignore. And at this late hour in a lost Yankees' season, Cole's excellent chance at an elusive pitching prize has become something of a team quest, too.

"It's humbling. It means a lot,'' said Cole, who lasted eight innings Thursday, yielded one run on two hits. "I'm putting my best foot forward and trying to give us a chance to win every single time.''

And that's part of the melancholy feel around the fourth place Yankees, with no hopes of riding Cole's best pinstriped season into October.

An ovation for Gerrit Cole in his final home start of 2023

Dominating the Jays’ mostly potent lineup with an expert mix of fastballs, breaking pitches and changeups, Cole’s bid for a perfect game ended with Kirk's sixth-inning liner to the right-center field gap off a cutter.

A crowd of 37,646 fans gave Cole an appreciative ovation and the right-hander went back to work, striking out Kevin Kiermaier and getting George Springer on a grounder to end the inning.

Cole received a far greater ovation after the eighth inning - the fans' last opportunity this year to reward the right-hander for his effort on a staff racked by injury and underachievement.

"That was special for me,'' said Cole, who walked none and registered nine strikeouts (107 pitches).

Against Clay Holmes, the wild-card contending Blue Jays scored twice in the ninth and sent the tying run to the plate before their five-game winning streak was ended.

With the win, his 50th as a Yankee, Cole (14-4) lowered his already league-leading ERA to 2.75 and he crossed the 200 innings threshold for the sixth time in his career.

Aaron Boone: "He's the Cy Young'' winner

From his first pitch Thursday, Cole "was just dialed in,'' said manager Aaron Boone.

Command-wise, "he was where he wanted to be over and over again.''

Cole's fastball "was even better'' than usual, said catcher Ben Rortvedt, "which is pretty hard to do.''

"He's almost so good that you kind of take it for granted,'' said Jake Bauers, whose first homer since Aug. 5 gave the Yanks (77-76) an early lead over Toronto (85-68). "There's not many guys like that in this league.''

“To me, he’s the Cy Young,’’ Boone has said of Cole, with five top-five finishes over his first 10 full MLB seasons.

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In 2019, Cole finished a close second for the AL Cy Young award with the Houston Astros, narrowly topped by teammate Justin Verlander.

This season, “I think he’s really put it all together from a consistency standpoint, game in and game out,’’ Boone said.

“I feel like he’s managed situations, no matter what’s going on in a game – whether he’s dominating or in games where it’s been a struggle for him.

“His ability to constantly make adjustments has stood out to me.’’

Gerrit Cole's September song: Do your job

With the slumping Giancarlo Stanton on the bench, Bauers batted cleanup and blasted a three-run homer off Jose Berrios, giving the Yankees a 3-0 lead in the first inning.

Working with a 5-0 lead in the eighth, Cole gave up a leadoff double to Matt Chapman, who eventually scored on a wild pitch.

Cole’s 25 starts of two runs or fewer are the most in the majors this year, a season the Yanks will struggle to stay above .500.

“Regardless if you’re in (the race) or if you’re not, as a professional, you’ve just got to do your job,’’ said Cole.

“There’s a sign right over there on the way out the (clubhouse) door that says, ‘Do your job,’ and that’s how I’ve approached my whole career.

“Sometimes you find ways to get energy or focus on games that maybe are less intense than they would otherwise be if you’re competing for a division, like last year.

“People are buying tickets, you’re getting paid a salary and honestly, it’s still fun. You’ve got to bring it every day.’’

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Gerrit Cole Cy Young bid bolstered in Yankees win over Blue Jays