Cole Shutout Bails Out Yankee Bats

Okay, whoever had April 15 in the "Giancarlo Stanton Injury Pool," you win. He pulled a hamstring legging out a double on Friday, and had to leave the game. He was put on the 10-Day Injured List. Knowing it's a hamstring injury, he might be tempted to reaggravate it soon, like too many other players (including some Yankees) have done, and knock himself out again, for who-knows-how-long.

With a starting lineup that did not include Stanton, but did include Aaron Hicks, on-base percentage .174; Willie Calhoun, .176; Jose Trevino, .235; Oswaldo Cabrera, .255; and Anthony Volpe, .309 but his batting average just .191, a fan could be excused for thinking the Yankees wouldn't score many runs against the Minnesota Twins at Yankee Stadium yesterday afternoon.

And they didn't. In the 3rd inning, Aaron Judge drew a walk, Anthony Rizzo was hit by a pitch -- and Twins manager Rocco Baldelli, whiny little sucka that he is, challenged it, unsuccessfully -- and, after a Gleyber Torres, strikeout, DJ LeMahieu singled Judge home. And LeMahieu led off the 6th with a home run. That's 2 runs, and that's all the Yankees would score, and DJLM was responsible for both of them.

But the story of the game was Gerrit Cole. Defying all Brian Cashman logic, Aaron Boone left him in to pitch a complete game. He allowed a walk in the 2nd inning, a single in the 5th, a single in the 6th, and that was it. He threw 109 pitches, 73 of them strikes, and struck out 10. In this case, the quantity was as important as the quality: He (and Boone) gave the bullpen a precious day off.

Yankees 2, Twins 0. WP: Cole (4-0). No relievers, so no save. LP: Pablo Jose López (1-1).

The Yankees are 10-6, as are the Toronto Blue Jays. They trail the Tampa Bay Rays, who were 14-2, by 4 games. The Baltimore Orioles are 9-7, 5 back. And the Boston Red Sox are 8-8, 6 back. So the entire American League Eastern Division is .500 or better.

The Yankees have today off, so that's more rest for the bullpen. Tomorrow night, the Los Angeles Angels come in, with Mike Trout, who is not as good as Mickey Mantle; and Shohei Ohtani, who is not doing the same things as Babe Ruth.