Aaron Boone Takes Blame for Leaving Gerrit Cole in Following 2-1 Loss Against Dodgers

After Aaron Boone decided not to take out Gerrit Cole in the 7th inning, the pitcher conceded a 2-run home run which proved to be the difference on Friday.

Aaron Boone Takes Blame for Leaving Gerrit Cole in Following 2-1 Loss Against Dodgers

Gerrit Cole and Aaron Boone (Image via MLB/Imago)

The New York Yankees lost 2-1 against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday. The game turned around after Gerrit Cole gave up a 2-run home run to Max Muncy. After the game, manager Aaron Boone took blame for this loss and admitted it was a mistake to keep Cole in.

Cole, the former Cy Young Award winner, was having a solid game until the 6th inning. The Yankees were leading 1-0 when he walked Mookie Betts in the top of the 7th inning.

With no outs and a runner on board, Boone went out of the dugout and headed to the mound. At that moment it seemed Cole was done for the day and would be replaced. However, to everyone’s shock, the Yankees manager decided to leave the pitcher in despite him having thrown 96 pitches.

What happened next? Cole gave up a 2-run home run to the next batter. On his 103rd pitch of the game, Max Muncy launched a towering shot in the right center field and put the Dodgers 2-1 up.

Cole ended the game with 6 plus innings pitched and 8 strikeouts. Despite his dominant performance from the mound, the Yankees suffered a 2-1 defeat with him getting credited for the loss.

While speaking with the reporters after the game, Aaron Boone admitted that he was at fault for this loss. The 53-year-old expressed he should have grabbed him.

In hindsight, I probably should grab him there. He pitched so well. I felt like he had enough to get Max. That’s on me: I should probably get him there. … Sometimes, you’ve got to take it out of their hands.

Aaron Boone told the reporters via Newsday

This was the first meeting the two teams at the Yankee Stadium since Game 5 of the 2024 World Series. Cole started that game as well and was dominating.

The Yankees led that game 5-0. However, some defensive misplays following the dropped catch from Aaron Judge opened the doors for the Dodgers. The National League side scored 5 runs and went on to win 7-6 to clinch the championship 4-1.

In that series, Boone faced criticism for taking off Cole in Game 1. In the series opener in Dodger Stadium, Cole threw 88 pitches and was then take off. Derek Jeter would question this decision as Freddie Freeman hit a iconic walk-off grand slam to lift the Dodgers over the Yankees.

Fast foward to 2026 and Boone’s decision to keep Cole in the game against the Dodgers have cost his team this time.

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Aaron Boone and Yankees fail to make up significant ground in AL East standings with 2-1 loss

After leading the AL East division standings for a while, the New York Yankees suffered a slump and slipped down. With their 2-1 loss to start off the second half of the season, Aaron Boone and his team failed to make up significant ground in their division.

Aaron Boone
Aaron Boone (Image via Imago)

As the Bronx Bombers hosted the reigning World Series champions, their rivals Boston Red Sox took on the Tampa Bay Rays. With a make up game of May 9, the two AL East teams participated in a doubleheader on Friday.

In the first game, the Red Sox shut out the AL East leader 10-0 to pick up their 10th straight win. A few hours later, they won 5-3 to extend their winning streak to 11 games and get up to .500 with a 48-48 record.

The Yankees started the series while being 3 games behind the Rays. Had the Yankees held on to the lead against the Dodgers, they would have been 1.5 games behind at the end of the day.

They are now 2.5 games behind. So they did move up a bit, just not by a big margin the fans would have been hoping for.

The Red Sox meanwhile, have made things interesting. While they are 5.5 games behind the Yankees, the momentum is certainly on their side.

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