Aaron Boone questions one of his Game 1 moves, but it's not what you think

LOS ANGELES – After a day of outside evaluations in Game 1, there was a decision Aaron Boone was grappling with.

He couldn’t draw Gerrit Cole after 88 pitches.

That wasn’t bringing in Nestor Cortes, who had just recovered from a flexor strain that had prevented him from pitching since Sept. 18, to face the Dodgers’ best hitter.

Instead, Boone allowed some reflection on whether he should have stuck with Luke Weaver longer.

Boone used his best bullpen arm in the eighth inning on Friday, tying a tying third and Weaver recording two outs but allowing a run to score.

He then moved to the Dodgers’ side in the ninth and struck out 19 in 1²/₃ innings.

“The most important thing is this: Am I going to send Weave up for the third time?” Boone questioned himself after striking out fewer relievers in the Dodgers’ Game 1 loss.

But asking Weaver to throw a third pitch to the mound could have taken him out of Game 2, which turned into a 4-2 loss in which Weaver was not used.

Boone grounded Jake Cousins for the final stretch of the Dodgers’ inning, but it didn’t work when Cousins walked Gavin Lux and allowed a single to Tommy Edman.

He brought in Cortes, who then retired Shohei Ohtani. But after an intentional walk to Mookie Betts to load the bases, Freddie Freeman hit the grand slam.

Boone didn’t hesitate to turn to Cortes, who he thought had a better chance than Tim Hill, who pitched a scoreless 1¹/₃ in Saturday’s Game 2 loss.

Boone was more evasive about Cole’s decision.

The club’s ace allowed one run on four hits with no walks in 88 pitches over six innings.

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He beat Teoscar Hernandez 0-2 to move up to seventh but couldn’t finish the job. Two fouls and three possessions later, Hernandez was left alone.

To Boone, that hit told him Cole was done.

“After long at-bats and a series of at-bats — five, six leading up to this one — I knew I had to get it there,” Boone said.

Boone talked to Cole on the mound and struck out a hit before calling on Clay Holmes, allowing a sacrifice bunt and grounding out Will Smith before Tommy Kahnle took over in a game that strained the Yankees’ bullpen.

But Boone said he knew he would be changing the pitcher when he went to Cole.

How did he know that Cole, a strong man, was finished?

“You just have to take my word for it,” Boone said of Cole, who he said is healthy.

The Yankees chose not to change their roster.

Boone continued to advance with an order designed to move his best hitters up as often as possible, sacrificing some of the stability.

Giancarlo Stanton went on to finish fourth behind leadoff hitter Gleyber Torres and No. 3 hitter Aaron Judge.

There were three righties in the first four slots, and only Anthony Volpe represented the righty in the final five slots.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts was then able to gain the team advantage more effectively.

Lefty Anthony Banda replaced Yoshinobu Yamamoto in the seventh round after Yamamoto retired Stanton.

Banda got Jazz Chisholm Jr. out and hit Anthony Rizzo before Volpe flew out.
Luis Gil will pitch Game 4 against what looks like a Dodgers bullpen game.

The Dodgers announced that Walker Buehler will start against Clarke Schmidt in Game 3.

Selecting Buehler means he will likely start Game 7.

The judges named him the overall Player of the Year and AL Best Player in voting for the 2024 Players’ Choice Awards, the only awards where players are chosen by their peers.

Judge defeated finalists Shohei Ohtani and Bobby Witt Jr.