Gerrit Cole was behind in the count before throwing a pitch in the second inning Friday night.
The Yankees ace was called for an automatic ball after committing a pitch-clock violation in which he apparently did not throw his final warmup pitch until after there were 20 seconds left on the clock.
Home plate umpire Quinn Wolcott docked Cole right after he threw the last warmup pitch, which catcher Austin Wells, Cole and manager Aaron Boone all took issue with.
Wells had been on deck when the final out was made in the bottom of the first, and often in those situations, umpires will wave off the clock or give pitchers some grace because their catcher needed extra time to put on their equipment for the next half-inning.
The Yankees did not get that discretion on Friday against the Rays, and while it led to a full count against Josh Lowe, Cole got him to fly out for the first out of the inning.
This marked Cole’s first pitch-clock violation this season after committing four last year, the first season it came into use.