Ace Gerrit Cole "on point'' in '26 debut, but Yankees can't solve Rays
Gerrit Cole made his return to the mound for the Yankees after a lengthy recovery from Tommy John surgery. He pitched six shutout innings but ultimately watched his team lose to the Tampa Bay Rays 4-2. The Rays capitalized on a late-game comeback, extending their lead in the AL East over the Yankees.
- ▪Gerrit Cole returned to the Yankees after 19 months, pitching six scoreless innings.
- ▪The Rays scored four runs in the eighth inning to secure a 4-2 victory.
- ▪Aaron Judge ended the game as the tying run but has struggled with only one hit in his last 24 at-bats.
Opening excerpt (first ~120 words) tap to expand
{"@context":"http://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","mainEntityOfPage":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/ace-gerrit-cole-point-26-071245116.html","headline":"Ace Gerrit Cole \"on point'' in '26 debut, but Yankees can't solve Rays","datePublished":"2026-05-23T07:12:45.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-23T07:12:45.000Z","keywords":["Gerrit Cole","Tampa Bay Rays","Jose Caballero","Yanks","Aaron Boone","the Rays","Austin Wells","Aaron Judge","Carlos Rodon","Chandler Simpson","Max Fried","Yankees","Nick Martinez"],"description":"In his first MLB start since the 2024 World Series, Yankees ace Gerrit Cole tossed six shutout innings in a 4-2 loss to the first-place Rays.","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Yahoo…
Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at Yahoo Sports.