Gerrit Cole’s 129-pitch Yankees gem likely cost him All-Star appearance

Gerrit Cole’s 129-pitch masterpiece will likely cost him the chance to pitch in the All-Star Game.

The Yankees ace got stretched to the limit Saturday for a complete game gem, a 1-0 win over the Astros. But it took the highest pitch count of his career, meaning he is no longer expected to throw an inning Tuesday in Denver for the American League All-Star team.

“Probably after [Saturday] night, prefer to not have him go on that Tuesday,” manager Aaron Boone said Sunday before the Yankees’ crushing 8-7 loss to the Astros. “I think Gerrit fully planned on pitching an inning Tuesday, and I think takes that honor seriously and was looking forward to going. But after [Saturday] night, it’s probably best to keep him out of actual pitching.”

Boone said he spoke to Cole about the decision Sunday morning and reached out to Rays manager Kevin Cash, who will manage the AL team, to let him know.

It was not immediately clear whether another pitcher would replace Cole on the roster. Aaron Judge and Aroldis Chapman are the only Yankees expected to play in the game.

Cole, who was voted to his fourth All-Star team by his fellow players, lowered his first-half ERA to 2.68 with Saturday’s shutout. His absence means that neither New York ace will pitch in the All-Star Game, after the Mets’ Jacob deGrom pulled out of the event in order to rest and get healthy for the second half.

Before Saturday, Cole’s career-high in pitches had been 116, which he did in 2018. But after throwing 112 pitches to get through the eighth inning — already a season-high — Cole went back out for the ninth instead of Boone calling on scuffling closer Aroldis Chapman.

Pitching coach Matt Blake said Sunday that while the Yankees usually “err on the side of 95-110,” Cole was “built up to handle about 125.” Cole said he “blew past the workload algorithm in the seventh” inning — which Boone disputed Sunday — but the Yankees cited multiple factors in allowing him to push past those limits.

“Obviously, you never want to push your starter that far in the modern era, but given who he is and our trust in him and knowing his body, I think we felt OK about that,” Blake said. “With the All-Star break on the back end of it, it gives us a little more cushion of not having to turn him around real quick.”

Cole’s 129-pitch effort — the most by a Yankee since Randy Johnson in 2006 — also came after he was sick and getting IVs on Wednesday and Thursday.

“He may have been tired and towards the end and not somewhere that he’s been, but he wanted the ball,” Boone said. “I felt like physically, mentally and just from a command of emotions standpoint, he was equipped for it [Saturday] night.”