The umpire’s nervous decision about the pitch clock has only made Gerrit Cole squirm

The New York Yankees entered the season as one of the best teams in Major League Baseball. The combination of Juan Soto and Aaron Judge provided a lot of offensive firepower, and the team would only get better with the return of Gerrit Cole, who would join a pitching rotation that was among the best in the majors.

Instead, the reigning American League Cy Young winner struggled in his return from a season-long elbow injury, becoming the first pitcher in Yankees history to allow more than four home runs and four walks without retiring a batter.

The Yankees began their third straight season of collapse, stumbling into the All-Star break having won just nine of their last 28 games.

It wasn’t easy for Cole to get into shape after returning from injury, but he stormed out of the All-Star break. Cole found his rhythm — perhaps with a little help from the umpire — during the Yankees’ 6-1 win over the Tampa Bay Rays.

The game began with home plate umpire Quinn Wolcott calling for a pitch clock violation on Cole early in the second inning after the pitcher didn’t throw his final warmup pitch until there were 20 seconds left on the clock. Cole wasn’t happy with the call at the time, and it suggested the Yankees ace was in for a tough game.

“I didn’t agree with (the call) and I lost my cool,” Cole said“Quinn didn’t do that and I’m thankful he kept me in the game. I was riled up. I was desperately trying to calm down and then I hit a fastball into the dirt and used the whole clock.”

Cole’s first pitch of the inning to Josh Lowe went straight into the dirt, but he managed to find his composure and pitched the best game of the season. Cole held the Rays to one run in six innings, striking out a season-high eight batters.

“I had a little bit of everything working,” Cole said. “A couple deep counts after the third, you know, I’d like to get those outs a little more efficiently, but overall it was pretty good tonight.”

Cole appears to be improving after his bumpy start to the season. He had his best start since coming off the injured list during last Friday’s game against the Baltimore Orioles, when he allowed just one run and threw 106 pitches.

In his last 12 innings, Cole has allowed just two runs and struck out 15 batters. He has a 1.05 ERA in his last two games, and he has lowered his ERA from 5.40 to 4.60 on the season.

After missing the first two and a half months with an elbow injury, Cole has struck out 34 batters in 29 innings and posted a 4.60 ERA.

Anthony Volpe gave the Yankees a much-needed 4-1 lead by driving in three runs with a two-out double down left field in the third inning. Judge went 2-for-4 and closed out the scoring by bringing home Soto with an RBI single in the sixth inning.

As long as Cole continues to play the way he has the past two games, the Yankees should have a fine run in the second half of the season.