Jazz Chisholm Jr. hits two more home runs, Yankees beat Phillies in 12 innings after Gerrit Cole is scratched from start

PHILADELPHIA — Aaron Boone’s modus operandi during his tenure generally has been to downplay injuries immediately after they happen.

And while Boone mostly stayed that course regarding Gerrit Cole being scratched from Tuesday night's start against the Phillies with what the club called “general body fatigue” — saying he expected the righthander, whose elbow by all accounts is fine, to start at some point this weekend against the Blue Jays — the Yankees manager didn’t downplay the news, either.

“Hope it’s just part of the process,” Boone said of Cole, who started the season on the injured list with right elbow inflammation and didn’t make his debut until June 19. “But, you know, he’s also not pitching today. But hopefully, it’s just that fatigue and the stomach bug that’s kind of wiped him out a little bit this week. Obviously, with what he’s been through this year, I don’t want to run him out there and put him in a bad situation. Just felt like the right thing to do was push him back a couple of days.”

Will Warren, one of the club’s top pitching prospects who nearly won the fifth starter’s job in the spring before being overtaken the final three weeks by Luis Gil, was called up from the minors to start Tuesday night’s wild 7-6 victory in 12 innings that gave the Yankees a four-game winning streak.

Jazz Chisholm Jr. had three hits, including two home runs for a second straight night. That included a three-run shot in the seventh that gave the Yankees a 5-4 lead. He is the first player to hit four home runs in his first three games as a Yankee.

But Clay Holmes blew his MLB-leading eighth save in the ninth and, after Alex Verdugo’s sacrifice fly in the top of the 11th made it 6-5, Michael Tonkin’s wild pitch and Austin Hays’ RBI single tied it in the bottom half. A Chisholm single and Gleyber Torres’ sacrifice fly in the 12th made it 7-6 and Tonkin (4-4) retired three straight in the bottom half to earn the win.

Righty Mark Leiter Jr., who arrived shortly before the game after being acquired from the Cubs, worked out of a bases-loaded, two-out jam in the 10th.

The 25-year-old Warren, seen at his locker before the game signing the major-league contract that put him on the active roster, didn’t pitch poorly, but had one big mistake in his 5 1/3 innings in which he allowed four runs, four hits and two walks with six strikeouts. It was an 0-and-1 slider Hays rocked for a three-run homer in the second that gave the Phillies a 4-1 lead.

Cole, the American League’s reigning Cy Young Award winner, has been up and down since his return, going 3-2 but with a 5.40 ERA in seven starts.

Speaking before Boone did Tuesday, Cole stressed that his elbow is good and that he simply hasn’t recovered as well between recent starts as he hoped.

“It’s just about putting a little more gas in the tank and being in a good position to take the ball next time and the time after that,” said Cole, who in his outings has thrown 62, 72, 90, 90, 106, 103 and 100 pitches, respectively.

Cole used the phrase “very fatigued” in describing his recovery of late.

That raised at least a little bit of a red flag simply because recovery issues in spring training preceded his tests, which ultimately showed elbow inflammation. In this case, no tests are scheduled and, realistically, Cole physically is at a much different place in his season than others.

“Look, I’m still [seven] starts into this season for me,” Cole said. “Everyone else is in the middle of it all. I feel different than other people. Maybe we all go through this at the beginning of the season or other different parts of the season. But we don’t always have an opportunity to just push it back and get a few extra days.”