Gerrit Cole makes Yankees spring debut against Pirates

Gerrit Cole got off to a fast start in his spring training debut for the New York Yankees, throwing a 97 mph heater on his first pitch and striking out two in a hitless inning against Pittsburgh on Monday night.

The teams played to a 3-3 tie.

“It went well,” Cole said. “It was fun. Made some good pitches.”

Leadoff man Adam Frazier popped out and Bryan Reynolds struck out before Cole Tucker drew a walk. Cole then fanned Josh Bell to finish up.

“I lost the one guy, 0-2, Tucker,” Cole said. “A couple of quality fastballs at the top but one of those three has to be in the zone. So next outing will continue to fine tune some command, but also try to keep the execution in terms of how the stuff’s coming out very high. I think there was only one or two really pretty poor pitches, so it was good work. Quality work.”

Cole signed a $324 million, nine-year contract as a free agent after going 20-5 with a 2.50 ERA and 326 strikeouts last season for the AL champion Houston Astros. He has an overall career record of 94-52.

Jason Martin had a two-out, game-tying RBI single in the top of the ninth for the Pirates.

Catcher Jacob Stallings went 2 for 2 with a double and a hit by pitch. Tucker went 1 for 2 with a walk. Thirs baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes had a pair of hits.

With Chris Archer scratched from his scheduled start due to a sore neck, Chris Stratton started for the Pirates and threw a scoreless inning. The Pirates used nine pitchers for an inning each.

Edgar Santana retired the Yankees in order in the third. He was making his first appearance since Sept. 21, 2018 after having Tommy John surgery.