The New York Yankees fell 5-1 to the Houston Astros on Thursday night at Yankee Stadium and dropped two of three games in the series.
Gerrit Cole started and lasted six innings. He gave up six hits and three runs while striking out five.
The score was only part of the story. Rookie George Lombard Jr. made another error, stretching a difficult defensive run.
Gary Phillips of the New York Daily News wrote: “George Lombard Jr. has now made 6 errors in 6 games. A bizarre streak continued by a bizarre play, which also saw José Caballero charged with an error.”
The 21-year-old has been up for only a short time, yet the miscues have come in bunches.
After the game Cole met with reporters and was asked about the young infielder.
A reporter said, “Garrett, we’ve seen George make a lot of really special plays since he’s come up, with six errors in six games now. Just what do you make of it when a player has a defensive struggle like that? Because it’s not usually the case. It’s usually a hitter struggle, a pitcher struggle, but defense is usually not something we see.”
Cole replied: “That’s an interesting point. For me, I really look at our teammates and look at how hard they’re working and how focused they are and where their preparation is, and if they’re putting themselves in a really good position to have success. As a teammate, those are the standards we hold ourselves accountable to. Errors happen, unfortunately. Sometimes they happen in groups for everybody. So I think it’s just important to remember he’s a young player, and he’s working his tail off to get better.”
Cole is a six-time All-Star in his 13th big-league season and his sixth with New York. He has seen plenty of young players come through the clubhouse and knows how quickly things can snowball.
Lombard Jr. made his major league debut this season after the Yankees took him in the first round of the 2023 draft. He has already shown the kind of range and arm that made scouts excited when he was amateur.
Those same tools have not always translated into clean nights in the field lately.
Defensive slumps are less common than hitting or pitching slumps, which is why the stretch has drawn so much attention. Cole kept coming back to work ethic and preparation rather than the errors themselves. He made it clear the club holds everyone to the same standard of focus, no matter the age.
Young players often need time to settle in at this level, even when the talent is obvious. The Yankees will keep running Lombard Jr. out there while he tries to iron out the mistakes.
Cole’s six innings kept the game from getting completely away early, even if the final score looked lopsided.
Houston took advantage of the extra chances and turned them into runs. For a team that expects to contend, nights like this sting more because they feel preventable.
Cole’s comments after the loss sounded like a veteran trying to keep a teammate from pressing even harder.
The next few games will show whether the defensive issues stay clustered or start to even out.
