BALTIMORE — Gerrit Cole has famously not dealt well with interruptions.
Billy Crystal’s ceremonial first pitch during Opening Day in 2022, which caused a slight delay that irked Cole, might follow the Yankees right-hander forever.
But Cole’s season of dominance also might be one of resilience.
The ace on Friday night smoothly navigated around several more holdups (the first one far lengthier) and aced another test, even if his offense could not make his brilliance count.
Cole withstood a two-hour, 32-minute rain delay that surely messed with his routine before he twirled seven scoreless innings in the Yankees’ 1-0 loss at Camden Yards.
The only thing Cole could not do was hit.
“Man, he’s been so good,” manager Aaron Boone said after Cole bulled his way through the powerful Orioles’ lineup on a season-high 110 pitches and allowed just three base runners, all on singles.
Cole struck out five and lowered his ERA to an-AL best 2.64. He has not allowed more than three runs in an outing since May 28, a span of 10 sparkling starts.
The excellence has become expected, but on Friday he traversed the unexpected.
The biggest obstacle was the long delay to begin the game, when Cole needed to keep his arm fresh and ready for whenever the rain ceased. A scheduled 7:05 p.m. first pitch instead was thrown at 9:37 p.m.
“It’s not ideal. I’ve been doing it for a while, so just work with it,” said Cole, who had all his pitches — four-seamer, slider, cutter, changeup and knuckle curve — working.
Cole sailed through the Baltimore order and did not allow a runner to reach second base until the sixth when Ramon Urias singled and advanced on a ground out with two outs. Cole then got Anthony Santander to ground out to end the inning as he traded scoreless frames with young Orioles stud Grayson Rodriguez.
“Just makes you want to go,” Cole said of the pitchers’ duel. “Makes you want to keep battling.”
After he had thrown 95 pitches, Cole took the mound for the bottom of the seventh in a scoreless game. He remained there for several minutes as Baltimore artist Amber August sang a slow version of “This Land is Your Land” — not missing a verse — and Cole politely puttered around the rubber.
Cole did not show any outward frustration. Finally allowed to pitch again, he did not miss a beat against the middle of the Orioles’ order, striking out Ryan O’Hearn and inducing ground outs from Ryan Mountcastle and Adam Frazier. He recorded outs even when he and catcher Ben Rortvedt did not appear on the same page.
“We’re just working through stuff,” Cole said of his dynamic with Rortvedt, who caught him for a second time since Jose Trevino was lost for the season with a torn ligament in his right wrist. “Tight ballgame against the division leader. Energy is high, tension is high.”
Cole walked off the mound having handled the weather and the disturbances as well as he handled the opponent.