Gerrit Cole’s Sunday in San Diego got ugly fast.
The Yankees ace opened the Padres’ lineup by serving a curveball up in the strike zone to Fernando Tatis Jr., and Tatis didn’t miss. He sent it over the right-field wall for a leadoff homer, and the inning only spiraled from there.
Jake Cronenworth came next and went the other way, lifting an opposite-field home run over the left-field wall. It was the first opposite-field homer of Cronenworth’s seven-year career. Then Manny Machado unloaded a shot to center field, making it three straight home runs and a 3-0 Padres lead before the Yankees could settle in.
Cole looked stunned after Machado’s blast, turning to watch the ball clear the fence before staring back toward home plate at catcher Austin Wells. He did manage to stop the damage at those three runs, though Ty France nearly made it four, sending a fly ball that landed one foot in front of the center-field wall as the fourth batter of the game.
The Padres’ back-to-back-to-back opening burst put Cole in a rare and unwanted spot. It was the second time in his career that he’s allowed three home runs to start a game, and he’s the only pitcher to do it twice.
The other instance came on June 9, 2022, when the Minnesota Twins opened with homers from Luis Arraez, Byron Buxton and Carlos Correa. Cole was chased after 2 1/3 innings in that game and gave up seven runs, though the Yankees still came back to win 10-7.
For San Diego, the three-homer start matched a feat the Padres hadn’t pulled off since April 13, 1987, when Marvell Wynne, Tony Gwynn and John Kruk went deep against San Francisco Giants starter Roger Mason. The Padres lost that game 13-6.
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