Sep 7, 2021 3 min read

New York Yankees ace Gerrit Cole exited Tuesday night’s game against the Toronto Blue Jays with two outs in the fourth inning because of tightness in his left hamstring.

Cole was pulled after allowing a sacrifice fly to Reese McGuire that gave Toronto a 3-1 lead.

After the throw from center fielder Aaron Judge deflected off his glove, Cole motioned to the dugout and was checked by trainer Tim Lentych. Cole was then replaced by Albert Abreu.

Cole allowed three runs, two of them earned, and five hits in 3 2/3 innings. He threw 70 pitches as the Blue Jays put together several lengthy at-bats against him.

Cole struck out two, tying Philadelphia’s Zack Wheeler for the major league lead with 217.

The star right-hander entered Tuesday with a 14-6 record and a 2.73 ERA. He was 4-0 with a 0.73 ERA in four starts since missing time following a positive test for COVID-19 and struck out 15 in seven innings on Wednesday against the Angels.

American League

Minnesota 3, Cleveland 0: John Gant pitched five solid innings to get his first win since joining Minnesota and spoil Cleveland starter Aaron Civale’s return from injury, leading the Twins to a 3-0 win over the Indians on Tuesday night.

Brent Rooker homered for the Twins, who have won six of their past seven against the Indians.

Gant (5-9) didn’t allow a run on three hits. The right-hander had been winless since May 26 for St. Louis – a span of 27 appearances. This was his fourth start for the Twins, who acquired him in a July 30 trade.

Four Twins relievers finished the combined seven-hitter with Alex Colomé working the ninth for his 13th save.

Francona has toe surgery: Indians manger Terry Francona is resting comfortably after undergoing toe surgery, his second operation since stepping aside for the season in July.

Francona, who had hip replacement surgery in August, had the procedure Tuesday at the Cleveland Clinic. The surgery was to fix his left big toe, which became infected during the offseason.

The 62-year-old Francona hobbled around in a walking boot for months before deciding to leave the team to address his medical issues. Francona will need months to recover from the toe surgery.

Bench coach DeMarlo Hale, who is filling in for Francona, is sure his good friend feels a sense of relief now that the surgeries are behind him.

“Absolutely. I’ve told him, too,” Hale said before the Indians faced the Minnesota Twins. “I think it’s the right thing to do because he’ll be able to have time in the offseason when he’s not up against the clock trying to get to spring training.”