AL WILDCARD GAME: RED SOX VS YANKEES

October 5, 2021

Gerrit Cole

Fenway Park

New York Yankees

Postgame Press Conference

Red Sox 6, Yankees 2.

Q. Why do you think you were not effective tonight?

GERRIT COLE: Just a couple mistakes and obviously Bogaerts big situation, and you know, big mistake to Schwarber.

Q. Aaron mentioned the fact that you obviously have battled COVID; that you had the hamstring issue. Did you feel like that had an effect on you at the end of the season and at all tonight?

GERRIT COLE: At the end of the season, we are all going through and wearing whatever we've had to overcome to get to this point. You know, the other team is dealing with the same kind of situation. So you know, when it's all said and done, I didn't perform the way I wanted to perform tonight.

Q. Can you describe the disappointment you're feeling, not getting the job done?

GERRIT COLE: Sick to my stomach.

Q. Were you surprised to see Aaron come get you at that point?

GERRIT COLE: I mean, you know, we needed a ground ball double-play right there, and probably nobody more equipped to do that on our team than Clay or Luis at that point. We've got to win and that's the right move.

Q. You mentioned that everybody's sort of wearing whatever their injuries were to this point. Over the last few outings, you have not been as sharp as you were before that. That seems to go back to the day that you tweaked the hamstring. Do you think the hamstring is responsible for what's happened?

GERRIT COLE: No.

Q. Your fastball in particular tonight really didn't seem to be there. What was your feel for that pitch and why do you think you weren't able to execute it?

GERRIT COLE: I mean, the first thing is induce three weak pop-ups on it. I made a bad mistake on a changeup and Plawecki put a good swing on it. And Schwarber went outside of the zone. I mean, it's just -- I don't know. I don't really have a reason for it, I guess. I don't even know if that's necessarily the thing I would say is an issue. But I mean, when it's all said and done, there wasn't one pitch that was good enough because we didn't get the job done.

Q. Could that have been a mechanical issue at all?

GERRIT COLE: A lot of times you're trying to go up, so we got a few expansions up there and we ran into one scenario where Schwarber put a good swing on it.

Q. You said the hamstring was not an issue over these last few starts. Do you see a common denominator? You had the win a couple starts ago. Is there a common denominator there?

GERRIT COLE: Probably try to get off -- I don't really have one.

Q. I know you came here to win championships and you have not gotten to the World Series yet. Does it feel like a failure or are you able to take the good with not getting to where you want to go?

GERRIT COLE: This is the worst feeling in the world, and it happens to 29 teams every year, going home early and not achieving your ultimate goal. So focusing on the good that maybe put us in this opportunity or the good that you did in the regular season just doesn't really -- there's just really nothing that you can do to make it feel any better. You can't be afraid of this feeling. You've got to through it inevitably to get that championship like you said but there's nothing that really makes you feel any better.

Q. Aaron Boone talked about how other teams in the AL are catching up to you guys. Does it feel that way to you? Do you look at roster and think you need to change some things?

GERRIT COLE: I'm not a roster expert to be honest. But you know, as a Yankee, certainly, you get your best punch from your opponents, whether it's April or whether it's October. And that's one thing that I think that's pretty consistent. So I think there are a lot of good teams out there. Certainly I don't think I've been a part of a division where there are three, four clubs, rather, that are winning over 91 games.

There are people -- there are people in front of us and there are people on our butts. That's the truth of the matter there.

Q. Was it just resignation when Boone came to take you out? Were you angry that you didn't get more rope to get out of there?

GERRIT COLE: I just wanted to stop Kyle where -- he was talking about the sequence he wanted to throw to Bogaerts and I just, like, wanted to tell him, like, you know, get your mind on Clay, because it took me off.

Q. Your numbers down the stretch are just not you. I mean, obviously it's totally uncharacteristic of your level of success in the past. Do you have any idea, any way to put your finger on what happened to you in the last month or so?

GERRIT COLE: Evaluate each game individually, and -- yeah, it just wasn't the same answer every time.