96, 96, 99, strikeout, a giant applause.
That’s the first impression that Gerrit Cole left on the city of Pittsburgh in his Major League debut. The Pirates won the game 8-2 but this game was about Cole and Cole alone.
“I really couldn’t feel my legs after that,” Cole said. “The crowd kind of went crazy and I didn’t really expect that.”
The 2011 No. 1 overall pick out of UCLA pounded the zone early and often as he had a 20/5 strike-to-ball ratio after the second inning and a nine-pitch, 1-2-3 inning in the third.
If there were any nerves from the 22-year-old Cole, he didn’t show them.
“With the bases loaded in the second, I knew I had to make a pitch or we were screwed,” Cole said. “I wasn’t nervous before the game or anything, that was weird. I was kind of nervous about not being nervous.”
When Cole struck out Gregor Blanco to leadoff the game, I didn’t think that the stadium could get much louder than that. As is often the case, I was wrong. With one out and the bases full of Buccos in the bottom of the second inning, Cole stepped to the dish. On what was one of the hardest hit balls of the night, Cole lined a single opposite field to drive in Russell Martin and Pedro Alvarez for the first runs of the game.
“I just got lucky,” Cole said. “I was just excited we were able to get the lead. When you have the lead, it allows you to get aggressive.
Emphatically, Cole slapped first base coach Rick Sofield’s hand and threw up a Zoltan to the Pirates dugout. It was, afterall, Cole’s first hit since high school.
“That was awesome,” Cole said.
Cole continued his efficient outing as he pitched through the fourth, fifth and sixth inning unscathed, sitting at just 70 pitches. In the seventh, Cole ran into some trouble as he allowed three hits, which included an RBI double to Tony Abreu for his first charged run.
Upon exiting the game, Cole received a rousing standing ovation.
“I was trying not to look up because I felt like I was going to smile,” Cole said ironically with a smile. “I wanted to be really hard and cool. It was very much appreciated and it was very hard for me to keep the stone face.”
Also credited for the success in Cole’s debut was Russell Martin and the job he did behind the dish.
“I can’t say enough about what Russ did. I mean, being able to keep me calmed down and keep me in the zone to just use my stuff,” Cole said. “Russ had such a great feel for them (the hitters) and such a great feel for what was going on, I feel like I owe him a lot.”
While Cole’s debut was great, Clint Hurdle said that the bar was set by Jason Jennings of the Rockies with his complete game shutout and home run in his debut. How did Cole feel his compared to that?
“Did he do it against the defending world champions,” Cole asked. “That’s one hell of a team over there.”
In addition to Cole’s two RBIs, the Pirates received runs from a Garrett Jones RBI single, a Pedro Alvarez groundout, a Martin single and two big flies by Starling Marte and Alvarez.
The Pirates will send Francisco Liriano (4-2, 1.75 ERA) to the mound tomorrow in game two against Barry Zito (4-4, 4.06). But for Cole, his next three starts will come against three more challenging pitchers. Cole is slated to start Sunday against Clayton Kershaw of the Los Angeles Dodgers, followed by Jered Weaver of the Los Angeles Angels and Yovani Gallardo of the Milwaukee Brewers.
