Boone owns costly Cole call as Dodgers nip Yankees
Aaron Boone said he should have pulled Gerrit Cole before Max Muncy’s decisive homer in the Dodgers’ 2-1 win over the Yankees.
By Deshawn Carter · Sports Writer
3 min read
Aaron Boone had his escape hatch ready, then stuck with Gerrit Cole. Seven pitches later, Max Muncy sent the game into the right-field seats.
The Yankees manager took responsibility Friday night after New York’s 2-1 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers, telling reporters he should have gone to left-hander Brent Headrick in the seventh inning with the Yankees protecting a 1-0 lead.
According to ESPN, Cole opened the inning by walking Mookie Betts. Boone came out of the dugout with Headrick, described by ESPN as the Yankees’ top reliever this season, warmed up for Muncy, a left-handed power bat.
Boone said he asked Cole on the mound whether he had one more hitter in him. Cole said yes, and Boone left him in.
“I was feeling the situation out,” Boone said, according to ESPN.
Cole quickly moved ahead 0-2, but Muncy got a slider over the plate and drove it into the second deck in right field. The two-run homer flipped a 1-0 Yankees lead into a 2-1 Dodgers edge that held up.
Afterward, Boone said the decision was his.
“Sometimes you gotta 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 swing spoiled one of Cole’s sharpest outings since returning from Tommy John surgery. ESPN reported it was his 10th start back, and the 35-year-old right-hander struck out eight, walked one and threw a season-high 103 pitches while being credited with six innings.
Cole was facing the Dodgers for the first time since Game 5 of the 2024 World Series, ESPN reported. He said afterward that the outing offered a lesson in stamina and closing innings.
“It’s nice to push the stamina to get back out there for an extra hitter and just keep going for it, keep competing,” Cole said. “That’s a great learning opportunity, physically and obviously getting deeper into the second half. And a good learning opportunity as well that it’s not over until it’s over. You’ve got to keep making pitches, especially against a great team like the Dodgers.”
Dodgers starter Roki Sasaki matched him. Entering with a 5.33 ERA through 16 starts, Sasaki held the Yankees to one unearned run on five hits across 5 2/3 innings, striking out five and walking one.
New York scored in the fourth when Jasson Dominguez doubled to right-center, reached third on an Andy Pages error and came home on a passed ball. The Yankees lineup was missing Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton.
Ben Rice said Sasaki kept hitters off balance with his pitch mix, including a fastball that reached triple digits and a splitter.
Rice nearly helped tie it in the eighth. With Trent Grisham on first after a walk, Rice doubled into the right-center gap against Alex Vesia. Grisham paused before charging around second, and third base coach Luis Rojas first held him before waving him home after Pages’ throw to the cutoff man strayed off line.
Betts, playing shortstop, made the throw home and Grisham was cut down. Boone defended the send, saying Betts had to make a difficult play and “made a pretty good throw on the run.”
Tanner Scott then retired the Yankees in order in the ninth, leaving Muncy’s homer and Boone’s seventh-inning choice as the night’s turning point.
“Obviously, in hindsight,” Boone said, “I probably should’ve grabbed him there.”
This story draws on original reporting from ESPN.com.