Yankees ace Gerrit Cole exits with right calf cramp ahead of 7th inning at Texas

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — New York Yankees ace Gerrit Cole said he isn't worried after exiting his start at Texas because of a right calf cramp.

Cole left the mound after his warmup pitches in the seventh inning Monday night during the Yankees’ 8-4 victory.

“Tried a couple things to get it to stop, and it just didn’t stop. So, didn’t seem like it was going to go away,” Cole said. “I wasn’t super concerned. I just didn’t think it was the right situation to keep trying to manipulate it out there.”

Before his last warmup pitch, Cole lifted his right leg and tried to stretch. The reigning AL Cy Young Award winner bent twice, threw the warmup, then hopped and signaled to the bench. Manager Aaron Boone and director of sports medicine Michael Shuck went to mound.

“Obviously immediate concern. But it looks like it was hopefully just that, some cramping,” Boone said. “He seemed pretty good right now when we came in. So hopefully that’s the case.”

Cole, who turns 34 on Sunday, said he believes that is all it was, and something he only felt when following through on those warmup pitches. He said he didn't feel anything when he jogged out to the mound before that inning, or when he was walking and moving around after that.

The Yankees announced during the game that they would continue monitoring Cole and reassess his condition on Tuesday.

He began this season on the 60-day injured list because of nerve irritation and edema in his throwing elbow during spring training and didn’t make his season debut until June 19.

Cole left with the Yankees leading 7-1. He struck out nine and allowed one run in his six innings while throwing 56 of 82 pitches for strikes. It was his first start in September after going 2-1 with a 1.93 ERA and 31 strikeouts over 28 innings in five August starts. He retired the last nine Texas batters he faced.

“It’s a good sign that you’re being unpredictable and you’re locating, you know, the ball in the right place,” Cole said.

Luke Weaver took over, allowing a single to Josh Jung and a home run to Wyatt Langford.

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Stephen Hawkins, The Associated Press