The New York Yankees needed a strong performance from their ace on Saturday afternoon at Fenway Park. With the offense struggling through a difficult stretch and the specter of a four-game sweep looming, Gerrit Cole was the one constant they could lean on.
It did not go according to plan. Cole gave up four runs on seven hits across five and a third innings, and the Yankees fell 4-1 for their third straight loss to the struggling Red Sox. New York has now dropped seven of their last ten, a stretch that has changed the feel of this season considerably.
After the game, manager Aaron Boone reacted to another loss for the Yankees.
Boone’s Reaction to Cole
The early innings were the problem. Cole was cautious when he needed to be aggressive, and Boston made him pay for it.
Masataka Yoshida led off the first with a home run. Anthony Seigler added a solo shot in the second. A two-run double from Willson Contreras in the third pushed the lead to four before Cole found himself.
Then something shifted.
Boone saw it happen in real time and described the moment with unusual clarity.
“I take a little bit of encouragement out of what I saw from him in the final few innings,” Boone said. “Like a little bit of like, ‘All right, screw this. Let’s get after it.’ He was on the attack and aggressive and letting it eat with everything as opposed to maybe early being a little bit careful.”
It was the kind of response Boone has been waiting to see from Cole since his return from Tommy John surgery. Not just competence. Competitive instinct. The willingness to stop being careful and trust what he has.
Cole echoed that himself after the game, saying “I got more aggressive as the game went on.” The results backed it up. Cole did not allow another run, working through the lineup with the kind of aggression that had been missing early.
GettyBOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS – JUNE 27: Gerrit Cole #45 of the New York Yankees exits the game in the sixth inning against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park on June 27, 2026 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Jaiden Tripi/Getty Images)
What the Numbers Showed
The final line was not pretty. Four runs, seven hits, five and a third innings. Cole has now given up nine runs across his last two starts combined, a stretch that has raised some questions about where he is in his comeback from elbow surgery.
Boone framed the early struggles as a mental adjustment more than a physical one. Cole was trying to be too precise, too careful, which cost him command rather than preserving it.
Once he abandoned that approach and attacked hitters directly, his curveball and changeup both came alive.
Fenway has been the one venue that has given Cole consistent trouble throughout his career, and Saturday fit that pattern early. His career ERA at the ballpark sits north of five. But the back half of his outing pointed somewhere more encouraging.
Final Word for the Yankees
Four runs in five innings is not the outing Cole or the Yankees wanted. The loss stings more given the circumstances. A sweep on the cards, and a lineup that cannot afford another quiet afternoon.
Boone still walked out of Fenway with something to hold onto. The moment Cole decided to stop being careful and start being himself, the game changed.
That is the pitcher New York is counting on. He showed up in the final innings on Saturday.
Now he needs to bring him from the first his next time out.
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