Red Sox’s Alex Verdugo: Gerrit Cole ‘can complain all he wants but the goal of this game is to throw it over the white plate’

NEW YORK — Yankees starter Gerrit Cole thought he struck out Red Sox’s Alex Verdugo on a 99.4 mph four-seamer but umpire Brian Knight called it a ball.

Verdugo belted the next pitch, a 99.5 mph four-seamer down the middle of the plate, for a game-tying three-run homer to center field.

A frustrated Cole argued with Knight after the top of the sixth inning ended. Both he and manager Aaron Boone got ejected.

“It wasn’t even close. It wasn’t even close,” Verdugo said about the pitch. “He can complain all he wants but the goal of this game is to throw it over the white plate. You know what I mean? He wants to steal every pitch. And he wants his catcher to steal it. And he’s just mad that the outcome happened on our side today. But if you go and look at any of those pitches, whether you’re a pitcher, hitter, a scout, just a fan, clearly balls.”

The Yankees ended up winning 5-4 over the Red Sox but not before Cole received his first career ejection.

“It’s just frustration,” Verdugo said about Cole arguing after the inning. “You know what I mean? That’s just pure anger. Give up a game-tying homer, he’s definitely pissed off. But at the end of the day, you’ve got to throw a strike and those pitches were not strikes.”

Verdugo said he wasn’t surprised with Cole’s reaction.

“No, because he’s still on the mound and he’s not really getting the feedback,” Verdugo said. “He can’t get the iPad and look and see the K-zone. He’s just going by (catcher Jose) Trevino back there. He’s a really good framer. He gets a lot of pitches out of the zone. He wanted it. Big pitch, big situation. He wanted it but the umpire got that call right.”

Verdugo celebrated, pointing as he rounded the bases.

“Just a big moment in the game,” Verdugo said. “Obviously anything you do against the Yankees is good with the rivalry that we have. A game-tying homer is a good feeling, especially after the inning before that; we give up three. So it just kind of put us right back in the ballgame and start it over from scratch.”

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