As if the New York Yankees didn’t have enough question marks surrounding their pitching rotation, Gerrit Cole got off to a head-scratching start against the San Diego Padres, one that saw him make MLB history of the wrong kind.
Allowing a home run to Padres leadoff batter Fernando Tatis Jr. in the first inning was only the start of a historically bad beginning for Cole in the 2026 MLB season. The Yankees’ starter followed it up by giving up homers to Jake Cronenworth and Manny Machado. The worst part of it was that it wasn’t the first time this happened to Cole, and thus he accomplished what no other starting pitcher in MLB history ever had.
“Gerrit Cole is the only pitcher in MLB history to allow back-to-back-to-back home runs to the first three batters of a game more than once in a career,” according to Talkin’ Baseball on X.
Last time Cole allowed three straight HRs to start a game
Although allowing home runs to the first three batters to start a game is rare on its own, it’s not unprecedented. However, doing so more than once is—or rather, was—until Cole accomplished the negative record during the Yankees’ series finale against the Padres.
The last time Cole had started a game by allowing three straight home runs was on June 9, 2022. Then, the Yankees’ starting pitcher allowed three straight home runs to Luis Arraez, Byron Buxton and Carlos Correa in the Minnesota Twins’ first three at-bats of the game. Cole’s night would be over after only 2.1 innings pitched, as he gave up five homers.
Cole’s abrupt ending saw him finish with eight hits allowed, seven earned runs, two bases on balls, three strikeouts, a 70-45 pitch-to-strike ratio, and a 3.63 ERA. Surprisingly enough, though, the Yankees ended up winning that game 10-7.
Cole’s pitching combinations in three straight home runs
With a 2-2 count, Cole served a knuckle curve right down the middle of the strike zone that Tatis Jr. connected with for a 371-foot homer. Against Cronenworth with a 2-1 count, Cole once again served a ball right down the middle of the zone, only this time it was a four-seam fastball, which the second baseman took 343 feet to the left side of the field.
Lastly, Machado’s home run came on another four-seam fastball, this time lower but still inside the strike zone and with a 2-2 count. Machado went yard with it, sending it 416 feet out to center.
