MLB ROUNDUP: Gerrit Cole taunts the Mariners with finger wag as Yankees end four-game skid

New York Yankees ace Gerrit Cole was clearly fired up during the seventh inning of the game against the Seattle Mariners Tuesday. 

He wagged a finger 15 times at Seattle Mariners manager Scott Servais and threw a pitch to Jose Caballero that landed high up on the backstop.

Cole’s message was clear and simple: Don’t mess with me.

‘Sometimes a high fastball can be a really effective pitch. Got to change eye level,’ the Yankees starting pitcher deadpanned after a 3-1 win over Seattle on Tuesday night that stopped a four-game losing streak.

Boosted by Anthony Rizzo’s RBI double in the first inning and Billy McKinney’s two-run homer in the second , New York improved to 7-0 when Cole pitches after a Yankees loss. Cole is 4-0 with a 1.87 ERA in those starts.

New York Yankees starting pitcher Gerrit Cole yells towards home plate after retiring the side 

The right-hander threw a 98mph pitch to Jose Caballero that landed high up on the backstop

Caballero stepped out repeatedly until the pitch clock was down to eight seconds

His 0-2 pitch to Caballero was as clear as an all-upper-case tweet. 

‘I think that raised their antenna,’ Yankees manager Aaron Boone said.

Caballero stepped out repeatedly during his first two at-bats until the pitch clock was down to the eight-second requirement to be in the batter’s box and alert. Caballero walked to the edge of the circle after taking a called strike with two outs in the seventh, fouled off the next pitch and walked to the edge again, then returned and called his one allowed timeout.

Cole responded with a 97 mph fastball 10-15 feet above the batter’s head.

‘He didn´t like the way I was manipulating the pitch clock but he just got excited, so that´s good,’ Caballero said. ‘The rules are there for all of us, and I just had to be ready at 8 seconds.’

Caballero swung past a full-count fastball, and Cole stared at him as he walked off the mound. Cole turned to the Mariners´ dugout and wagged his right index finger over and over.

‘Their manager had some choice words for me coming off the field and he was wagging his finger at me, so I wagged my finger at him,’ Cole said.

Plate umpire Dan Bellino walked toward the New York dugout and had an intense discussion with Boone.

Billy McKinney’s (right) two-run homer in the second helped boost the Yankees to the 3-1 win

‘I don´t remember it because, obviously, there was yelling, some back and forth at the dugouts,’ Boone said. ‘I was like, “Why are you yelling at us?” It felt like they started yelling at us right away.’

Servais finished his postgame interview before Cole spoke.

‘Cabby plays the game the right way,’ Servais said. ‘He plays by the rules. He gets in there. Obviously others didn´t think it was right, but Cabby´s done that since he´s been in the big leagues. He´s not going to change how he plays.’

Cole (8-1) allowed one run and four hits in 7 1/3 innings with eight strikeouts and a walk, giving up an opposite-field RBI double to Jarred Kelenic off the left-field wall in the sixth . Cole received a standing ovation when he was replaced by Clay Holmes, then raised his right index finger and thumb to tip his cap to the crowd of 43,130 as he walked to the dugout.

Holmes got five straight outs for his ninth save in 11 chances , ending a game that took just 2 hours, 9 minutes. The Cole-Caballero confrontation was the lasting memory.

‘New age,’ Boone said. ‘Pitch-clock age.’

Cole (45) is relieved in the eighth inning of a baseball game against the Seattle Mariners

ORIOLES 8, RAYS 6 

Aaron Hicks homered and had four RBIs as the Baltimore Orioles beat the Tampa Bay Rays 8-6 after nearly blowing a seven-run lead Tuesday night in a matchup of the top two teams in the AL East.

Anthony Santander and Ryan O’Hearn also went deep, and Kyle Bradish (3-3) gave up two runs and four hits over five innings for the Orioles, who moved within four games of the first-place Rays. Félix Bautista, the fifth Baltimore reliever, got four outs to earn his 20th save on his 28th birthday.

Francisco Mejía had an RBI double off Bradish during a two-run fifth before Manuel Margot drove in two with a pinch-hit single in a four-run sixth against three Baltimore relievers as the Rays got within 7-6.

Tampa Bay dropped to 31-8 at home and has lost three straight overall. The Rays entered as the only team in the majors without a three-game skid this year.

Baltimore´s Austin Hays, who started the day leading the AL in batting, went 3 for 4 and raised his average from .320 to .327. He has a career-high streak of five multiple-hit games.

Hicks made it 4-0 with his three-run homer off Tyler Glasnow (2-1).

Orioles’ Aaron Hicks celebrates with third base coach Tony Mansolino (36) after his three-run 

REDS 8, ROCKIES 6

TJ Friedl had a three-run homer on a four-hit night, rookie Elly De La Cruz added a solo shot and Cincinnati extended its winning streak to 10 games while handing Colorado its seventh straight loss.

Will Benson hit a solo homer in the sixth, helping the NL Central-leading Reds to their longest winning streak since 2012, when they also won 10 straight. De La Cruz had three hits as fans chanted ‘Elly! Elly!’

Alex Young (2-0), the second of six Cincinnati pitchers, worked a perfect fifth for the victory. Alexis Díaz allowed a run before escaping a bases-loaded jam his 20th save in 20 opportunities.

Noah Davis (0-2) gave up five runs in four innings. Jorge Alfaro hit a three-run homer in the eighth for the Rockies.

Reds’ TJ Friedl hits a three-run home run against the Colorado Rockies during the second

ASTROS 4, METS 2

Alex Bregman hit a two-run homer and Framber Valdez threw eight strong innings to outpitch former teammate Justin Verlander as Houston beat New York to snap a five-game skid.

Valdez (7-5) didn´t allow a baserunner until the sixth and held the Mets scoreless until the eighth. His 2.27 ERA ranks second in the majors. Ryan Pressly pitched a scoreless ninth for his 13th save.

The Astros led by one in the third before Bregman connected off Verlander (2-4) for the 150th home run of his career to make it 3-0. Verlander allowed four runs in seven innings in his first meeting with his former team.

Houston Astros starting pitcher Framber Valdez throws during the first inning against the Mets

BRAVES 4, PHILLIES 2

Spencer Strider struck out nine over six innings in his first start in Philadelphia since last year’s postseason implosion, and Austin Riley and Matt Olson homered for Atlanta.

Strider (8-2) nimbly pitched out of jams until the fifth and helped the Braves win their seventh straight. Raisel Iglesias gave up a run in the ninth but struck out Kyle Schwarber with the tying run on base to pick up his 10th save.

Phillies reliever Jeff Hoffman (0-1) surrendered a walk and single to open the seventh and Ronald Acuña Jr. lined a one-out single for a 2-1 lead.

Atlanta Braves’ Ronald Acuna Jr. reacts after hitting a run-scoring single against Philadelphia

BLUE JAYS 2, MARLINS 0

Ernie Clement and George Springer hit consecutive RBI singles in the eighth inning and Toronto beat Miami.

Yusei Kikuchi allowed two hits and struck out six in six innings to help Toronto even the series after falling 11-0 in the opener Monday night. The Blue Jays ended a 19-inning scoreless streak in the eighth against Tanner Scott (4-2).

Miami´s Luis Arraez went 1 for 4, dropping his major league-leading batting average to .398. The Marlins had won five in a row.

Yimi García (2-3) was the winner, pitching the seventh. Jordan Romano closed with a scoreless ninth for his 21st save.

Toronto Blue Jays’ Santiago Espinal scores on a single by Ernie Clement against the Marlins 

RED SOX 10, TWINS 4

Christian Arroyo had a career-high five hits and drove in four runs, Kutter Crawford (2-3) pitched five scoreless innings and Boston beat Minnesota for its sixth straight win.

Adam Duvall and Arroyo hit solo homers in the fourth to start the scoring, and Masataka Yoshida added a two-run shot in the eighth. Arroyo also hit a three-run double as part of a five-run seventh for Boston.

Corey Kluber allowed four runs on three homers but pitched the final three innings for his first career save.

Bailey Ober (4-4) surrendered three runs in six innings for AL Central-leading Minnesota, which has lost five of six and fell to a season-worst two games under .500 (36-38).

Boston Red Sox’s Christian Arroyo, center, celebrates in the dugout after hitting a solo homer

WHITE SOX 7, RANGERS 6

Zach Remillard singled in Elvis Andrus with the go-ahead run on a play that was overturned by video review, and Chicago rallied with three runs in the eighth inning to beat Texas.

The White Sox overcame five RBIs by Corey Seager, including a two-run double in the top of the eighth that put Texas ahead 6-4.

Andrus tied it with a single off Grant Anderson (1-1) that plated two runs with two outs. Remillard followed with a line drive to left field, and Andrus was initially called out at the plate by umpire D.J. Reyburn on Travis Jankowski´s throw. Rangers manager Bruce Bochy was ejected after the call was overturned.

Andrus had a solo shot and finished with three RBIs. Eloy Jiménez hit a two-run homer for Chicago, which ended Texas´ three-game winning streak and won for just the third time in 10 games.

Aaron Bummer (3-1) got the win despite retiring only one batter. Kendall Graveman pitched a scoreless ninth for his seventh save.

Rangers catcher Jonah Heim, left, reacts after manager Bruce Bochy, center, was ejected 

GUARDIANS 3, ATHLETICS 2, 10 INNINGS

Andrés Giménez´s single in the 10th brought home José Ramírez from third base and Cleveland handed Oakland its sixth straight loss.

With the bases loaded and none out, Giménez dropped his single off Trevor May (2-4) just inside the right-field line for Cleveland´s fourth walk-off win this season.

The Guardians were blanked for six innings before tying it in the seventh on Amed Rosario´s RBI single and Ramírez´s run-scoring double.

Enyel De Los Santos (3-1) kept the A´s from taking the lead in the 10th.

Oakland dropped to 19-56, the club´s worst record since the 1920 Philadelphia A´s started with the same mark.

Andres Gimenez runs to first base on a single that drove in the winning run-in 10th the inning

CUBS 4, PIRATES 0

Marcus Stroman allowed five hits over seven innings as Chicago handed Pittsburgh its eighth straight loss.

Stroman (9-4) struck out five, walked one and never let the Pirates get to third base while winning his seventh straight start. He needed just 97 pitches to get 21 outs, dropping his ERA to 2.28, tops in the National League.

Tucker Barnhart hit his first home run of the season for the Cubs. Mike Tauchman homered for the second time in three games as Chicago won for the seventh time in eight games.

Pittsburgh´s offense offered no support to starter Johan Oviedo (3-7).

Chicago pitcher Marcus Stroman heads to the dugout after pitching in the seventh inning 

TIGERS 1, ROYALS 0

Daniel Lynch allowed one hit over seven innings for his first major league win in almost 11 months and Kansas City beat Detroit.

Kansas City had lost 12 of 13. Matt Beaty, making his first start for the Royals, drove in the only run with a sixth-inning double off Tigers starter Michael Lorenzen (2-5).

Javier Báez doubled with one out in the ninth for Detroit, but Scott Barlow retired the next two hitters for his eighth save, completing the two-hitter.

The Tigers were shut out for the 10th time this season and the sixth time in their last 20 games.

Lynch (1-3) had gone 0-9 in 15 starts since beating the Chicago White Sox last Aug. 1.

Kansas City Royals starting pitcher Daniel Lynch throws during the first inning of baseball 

BREWERS 7, DIAMONDBACKS 5

William Contreras hit a go-ahead, two-run double in the seventh inning and Milwaukee rallied from a 4-0 deficit to beat Arizona.

Jesse Winker hit his first homer of the season for the Brewers. Hoby Milner, Bryse Wilson (2-0), Joel Payamps and Devin Williams combined for 3 2/3 innings of shutout relief. Williams worked around a one-out walk in the ninth to earn his 13th save in 14 opportunities.

Ketel Marte went 3 for 5 with a three-run homer and double for the NL-West leading Diamondbacks.

Austin Adams (0-1) retired the side in order in the sixth but exited after allowing a walk and two leadoff singles to start the seventh. All three runners came around to score.

Brewers’ William Contreras reacts after hitting a two-run scoring double during the seventh

CARDINALS 9, NATIONALS 3

Dylan Carlson homered twice, Willson Contreras went 3-for-4 with two doubles to break out of a slump, and St. Louis beat skidding Washington for its fourth straight win.

Paul DeJong also homered for the Cardinals.

Jordan Montgomery (4-7) matched a season high by pitching seven innings, allowing one run on four hits with six strikeouts.

MacKenzie Gore (3-6) gave up five runs on nine hits in six innings for the Nationals, who have lost five straight and 13 of 15.

Cardinals’ Dylan Carlson is congratulated for his two-run home run against the Washington 

DODGERS 2, ANGELS 0 

Miguel Rojas doubled and scored on Michael Busch’s high-bouncing single in the eighth after Clayton Kershaw and Reid Detmers dueled through seven scoreless innings, and the Los Angeles Dodgers opened the Freeway Series with a 2-0 victory over the Los Angeles Angels.

Will Smith added an RBI single in the eighth for the Dodgers, who snapped their three-game skid with two fortunate breaks for a team that hasn’t had many lately.

Four innings after the Angels’ Brandon Drury was ruled out at the plate on a call overturned by video review, Busch’s chopper off Chris Devenski (3-2) inexplicably leaped high over new Angels first baseman Kevin Padlo.

Dodgers shortstop Miguel Rojas and third baseman Michael Busch celebrate the victory

GIANTS 4, PADRES 3

Joc Pederson hit a tying home run in the eighth inning and drew the winning walk in the ninth to help the San Francisco Giants beat the San Diego Padres 4-3 on Tuesday night for their ninth straight victory.

Pederson drew the bases-loaded walk off four-time All-Star closer Josh Hader a night after Mike Yastrzemski gave the Giants a victory with a three-run home run in the 10th inning.

Luis Matos started the ninth for San Francisco with a one-out walk off Nick Martinez (3-3). Patrick Bailey followed with a single to left, just under diving third baseman Manny Machado.