NEW YORK — The Yankees’ offense didn’t exactly experience some kind of breakthrough Tuesday night.
But the way Gerrit Cole was throwing, it didn’t matter.
The ace righthander, backed by a two-run homer from Billy McKinney and three hits from the slumping Anthony Rizzo, throttled the Mariners over 7 1/3 dominant innings in a 3-1 victory in front of 43,130 at the Stadium.
The victory ended a four-game losing streak for the Yankees (40-33), whose offense has been a mess during Aaron Judge's absence.
Cole allowed one run, four hits and a walk in improving to 8-1 with a 2.64 ERA. Cole, who struck out eight in what was his longest outing since a complete-game 2-0 victory over the Twins April 16, improved to 4-0 following a Yankees loss.
Cole provided some late theater to his outing. After losing his grip on a pitch to Jose Caballero – the pitch sailed what appeared to be some 15-20 feet into the backstop – Cole struck the second baseman out swinging at a 98-mph fastball. Cole, on his way back to the dugout, stared down Caballero, then gave a finger wave toward the Mariners dugout. Yankees bench coach Carlos Mendoza, typically mild-mannered, could be seen in the background screaming in the direction of the visiting dugout.
Clay Holmes took over for Cole with one out in the eighth and retired both batters. He set down the Mariners 1-2-3 in the ninth for his ninth save in 11 chances.
The Mariners (35-36) in many ways were the perfect opponent for the struggling Yankees, who came in having scored a total of 39 runs in the 12 previous games without Judge. Though not to the degree of the Twins, the Mariners typically roll over at the sight of the Yankees – home and away – having lost 10 of their previous 12 series to them and 13 of their last 16.
Rizzo, who came into the night in a 4-for-48 slide, went 3-for-4. His RBI double in the first brought in Gleyber Torres to give Cole an early lead. Harrison Bader, back after missing 16 games with a right hamstring strain, singled leading off the second and scored on McKinney’s home run to deep right to make it 3-0.
The Yankees did all of the damage against Seattle righthander George Kirby, who handcuffed the Yankees over eight scoreless innings in a 1-0 victory (in 10 innings) May 31 in Seattle. Kirby, a native of Rye, who grew up a Yankees fan, allowed three runs and eight hits over seven innings. He struck out four.
After Cole needed just six pitches to retired the Mariners in order in the top of the first, Rizzo gave him a lead in the bottom half.
Torres, who along with Jake Bauers were the only regulars to hit the ball consistently hard over the weekend in Boston, flared a one-out single to center. Rizzo, whose batting average dipped to .262 and OPS fell to .768, then launched one to right where Teoscar Hernandez had a play on the ball at the wall but instead saw it glance off his glove for an RBI double.
Cole walked Jarred Kelenic with one out in the second and Eugenio Suarez followed with a bloop single to center. Cole slammed the door there, getting Cal Raleigh to fly to left before striking out former Yankee Mike Ford swinging at a 98-mph fastball.
Bader made an immediate impact in his first game back. The centerfielder led off the second with a single and, with McKinney at the plate, stole second. McKinney, a non-roster invitee in spring training, teed off on a full-count, 96-mph sinker and hammered it 432 feet into the bleachers in right-center, his second homer making it 3-0. McKinney improved to 11-for-36 (.306) in 11 games, with six of those hits going for extra bases.
Cole provided a shutdown inning, retiring the Mariners in order.
The righthander retired nine straight after Suarez’s single in the second, a streak broken by Raleigh’s one-out infield single in the fifth. Caballero’s infield single with two outs put two on for the Mariners but Cole struck out Dylan Moore swinging at a slider to end the threat.
The Mariners got to him at last in the sixth when Cole hit Ty France with a pitch and Kelenic doubled him home with two outs to make it 3-1.
