Everyone loves a good scapegoat, and Michael Kay, the man responsible for Gerrit Cole’s blown no-hitter, was nominated on Monday night.
When a pitcher is pitching a no-hitter (or a n*-hitter while it is active), it is one of baseball’s most significant unwritten laws not to mention anything about it for fear of jinxing the occurrence.
In Monday’s game against the Rays, beloved New York Yankees broadcaster Michael Kay had to proclaim to the world that Yankees star Gerrit Cole had pitched seven no-hit innings. In the eighth inning, Cole gave up his first hit of the night, a double by Isaac Paredes.
Michael Kay jinxed Gerrit Cole
Cole joins a select group of pitchers who have never pitched a no-hitter in their careers. He’s one of the game’s most powerful pitchers, having finished in the top five in the AL Cy Young Award race for four straight seasons (2018–2021), won an ERA title, and been selected to four All-Star Games, but has never thrown a no-hitter. At least not yet.
When the Yankees’ ace was mowing down the Rays’ third-place lineup, Kay took to Twitter to urge everyone to watch the game. Cole, 31, pitched seven and a third innings tonight, giving up an earned run (which Clay Holmes, who turns out is human, allowed to score) and striking out 12 Rays.
As one might expect, Kay’s jinxing of Cole’s push for history enraged the Twitter world, and users of everyone’s favorite social media site did not hold back.
Even if Cole didn’t quite close the deal today, he was able to strengthen his case for his first career Cy Young Award, as the Yankees won the game 4-2 in Tampa Bay, with Anthony Rizzo homering and Wandy Peralta earning his second save of the 2022 season.
