There is one Yankees Game 1 decision Aaron Boone is second-guessing

LOS ANGELES — After a day of external second-guessing, there was one decision Aaron Boone himself grappled with. 

It was not pulling Gerrit Cole after 88 pitches.

It was not bringing in Nestor Cortes, fresh off a flexor strain that had not allowed him to pitch since Sept. 18, to face the Dodgers’ best hitters. 

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

Boone went to his best bullpen arm in the eighth inning, with the tying run on third, and Weaver recorded two outs but allowed the run to score.

He then buzzed through the Dodgers side in the ninth and had thrown 19 pitches in 1 ²/₃ innings. 

“The biggest thing is: Do I send Weav’ back out there for a third up?” Boone questioned of himself after the Dodgers hit lesser relievers. 

But asking Weaver for a third trip to the mound might have taken him out of Game 2.

Boone turned to Jake Cousins for the bottom of the Dodgers’ order, which did not work when Cousins walked Gavin Lux and allowed a single to Tommy Edman. 

With one out, he then brought in Cortes, who did retire Shohei Ohtani.

But after an intentional walk to Mookie Betts to load the bases, Freddie Freeman drilled the walk-off grand slam. 

“Nestor, I’m good with,” Boone said of his decision, in which he opted for Cortes over Tim Hill. 

Boone reasoned that with one out in that situation, he wanted Cortes because he wanted a better chance at a strikeout with two runners on base, the tying run on second and go-ahead run on first.

If there were two outs, he would have gone with Hill, who pitches more to contact. 

“Even after the fact, I feel like that [Cortes decision] was the right move with one out,” said Boone, who was more evasive concerning the Cole decision. 

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The club’s ace allowed one run on four hits without a walk in six-plus innings on 88 pitches.

He pitched into the seventh, when he got ahead of Teoscar Hernandez, 0-2, then could not finish him off.

After two fouls and three balls, Hernandez singled. 

According to Boone, that plate appearance told him Cole was finished. 

“After the long at-bat there and the sequence of at-bats — the five, six leading up to that, I was just like, I knew I had to get him there,” Boone said before Game 2 at Dodger Stadium. 

Boone talked with Cole on the mound before calling for Clay Holmes, who hit one batter, allowed a sac bunt and got Will Smith to pop out before Tommy Kahnle took over in a game that taxed the Yankees’ bullpen. 

But Boone said he knew when he trotted out to Cole that he would replace the pitcher. 

How did he know that Cole, a workhorse, was finished? 

“You just have to take my word for it,” Boone said. 

The Yankees opted against shaking up their lineup. 

Boone continued rolling with an unbalanced order that was arranged to get his best hitters up as often as possible, which sacrificed some balanced. 

On Friday, because Gleyber Torres batted leadoff, Aaron Judge third and Giancarlo Stanton cleanup, the Yankees had righties at the top and a row of lefties in the middle and bottom, with Anthony Volpe the lone righty batting among the final five slots.

The Dodgers took advantage. 

In the sixth, the Dodgers opted for Anthony Banda to get Yankees lefties out.

Jazz Chisholm Jr. singled and stole a few bases, and Volpe was intentionally walked ahead of an infield single from Austin Wells, but Alex Verdugo struck out. 

There was no hint of a rally in the eighth, when Alex Vesia struck out Chisholm and Anthony Rizzo before Volpe flied out. 

Luis Gil will pitch Game 4 against what looks like a Dodgers bullpen game.

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

Opting for Buehler means he likely would start a Game 7. 

Judge was named overall Player of the Year and AL Outstanding Player in balloting for the 2024 Players Choice Awards — the only awards in which the players are selected by their peers. 

Judge beat out finalists Shohei Ohtani and Bobby Witt Jr.