Yankees ace Gerrit Cole tests positive for COVID-19, to miss start

Aug. 3 (UPI) -- New York Yankees ace pitcher Gerrit Cole tested positive for COVID-19 and will not make his scheduled start Tuesday, manager Aaron Boone announced.

"Gerrit will not be pitching [Tuesday]," Boone told reporters after the Yankees lost to the Baltimore Orioles on Monday in New York. "He actually tested positive for COVID-19, so he will not be pitching."

Boone said Cole is the only Yankees player who tested positive Monday. Left-handed pitcher Nestor Cortes Jr. is expected to start in place of Cole against the Orioles on Monday at Yankee Stadium.

Cole is 10-6 with a 3.11 ERA in 21 starts this season. He leads MLB with 176 strikeouts. His two complete games are tied with Sean Manaea of the Oakland Athletics for the most in the American League.

The four-time All-Star allowed six hits and eight runs in 5 1/3 innings in his last start against the Tampa Bay Rays on Thursday in St. Petersburg, Fla.

Cortes is 0-0 with a 1.93 ERA in 11 appearances this season. The four-year veteran will make his fourth start of 2021.

The Yankees (56-49) host the Orioles (38-67) at 7:05 p.m. Tuesday at Yankee Stadium. Left-handed pitcher Alexander Wells is expected to start for the Orioles.