NEW YORK -- Yankee Stadium fell into a collective sigh of shock and exasperation when manager Aaron Boone pointed to the bullpen after Gerrit Cole loaded the bases with nobody out in the sixth.

The Yankees¡¯ ace had kept the Astros in check for most of Game 3 of the AL Championship Series on Saturday up until that point, save for a two-run homer that stemmed from a Harrison Bader error in the second.

Did Cole feel like he had more in the tank when he was pulled?

¡°Yeah,¡± he said after the Yankees¡¯ 5-0 loss to the Astros, which put New York down, 3-0, in the best-of-seven series. ¡°I feel like, as a pitcher like myself, I'm probably mostly surprised. You know, I always want to keep going.¡±

Hindsight can be cruel, but the call to the bullpen clearly backfired.

After Alex Bregman¡¯s double, Kyle Tucker¡¯s walk and Yuli Gurriel¡¯s bloop single chased Cole, Lou Trivino took over on the mound. The reliever proceeded to allow a sac fly from Trey Mancini and a two-run single from Christian V¨¢zquez to grow the Yankees¡¯ deficit to five runs and balloon Cole¡¯s final stats.

The Yankees¡¯ starter finished the game with five runs allowed (three earned) on five hits and two walks while striking out seven over five-plus innings. Very few of Cole¡¯s 96 pitches were mistakes, but the Astros once again pounced on whatever opportunities they had.

¡°We threw consecutive pitches on the edge all night,¡± said Cole, ¡°and they put really good, convicted swings on pitchers¡¯ pitches. And they obviously had a little bit of luck go their way.¡±

Bader¡¯s error was perhaps the biggest example of the Yankees¡¯ lack of luck on Saturday.

What should have been a quick second inning was extended when V¨¢zquez hit a fly ball that traveled to right-center. Both Bader and Aaron Judge called for it until the last second, when Judge tried to give way as Bader dropped the ball. A red-hot Chas McCormick capitalized with a two-run blast, extending Cole¡¯s streak of consecutive games with a home run allowed to nine.

¡°Unfortunate,¡± said a despondent Cole about the sequence.

But the 32-year-old settled in after that, displaying the usual dominance that¡¯s carried him to a 2.95 ERA and 29.9% strikeout rate over three starts in the 2022 playoffs. That¡¯s why Yankees fans turned their disbelief into a standing ovation as a frustrated Cole left the field on Saturday night.

¡°I was hoping to get Gerrit through that,¡± said Boone. ¡°I felt like he threw the ball incredibly well. I got Trivino up just in case he needed some help there with the bottom righties that we liked him against. But obviously, it turned out it didn't work for us.¡±

On one hand, Cole¡¯s frustration was seemingly warranted. He¡¯s a strikeout pitcher built for the big moments, and they don¡¯t get much bigger than facing your former team with the bases loaded and the season on the line.

But his numbers in high-leverage situations may have justified a chance. Cole pitched to a .250 batting average with an .827 OPS and nine homers with runners in scoring position in the regular season. Trivino¡¯s RISP stats were marginally better -- a .305 opponent average and .772 OPS with no homers -- but in that moment, he represented a well-rested arm with a theoretical matchup advantage.

¡°Especially [in] playoff baseball, it's always going to come down to a handful of pitches that tip the balance of the game either way,¡± said Cole. ¡°And as a pitcher, that balance is often irrelevant to what you're trying to do out there. So there's a little bit of a motivation factor to try to pitch better and be the guy that picks people up.¡±

At times, it seemed like Cole had to go it alone. Yankees batters managed just one hit through 8 2/3 innings on Saturday, failing to provide their ace¡¯s brilliance with any run support.

This lineup has scuffled all series long. Now, it¡¯ll be tasked with attempting a herculean turnaround to give Cole another chance to pitch this year. If the Yankees were to manage a comeback to tie the series, Cole would be in line to pitch Game 7 next week in Houston.

¡°I mean, we¡¯ve got a shot,¡± said Cole. ¡°We¡¯ve just got to play it one pitch at a time.¡±