Yankees’ Gerrit Cole delivers best start since injury return: ‘Looked like our ace’

BALTIMORE — The Yankees have plenty of issues to fix if they want to get back to how they were playing for the first two-plus months of the season.

Gerrit Cole might have given them some reason to hope he’s returning to top form with his best start of his abbreviated season in Friday’s 4-1 win over Baltimore at Camden Yards.

While the win was somewhat overshadowed by the ninth-inning fireworks stemming from Clay Holmes drilling Heston Kjerstad in the head that led to the benches clearing, much of the early part of the game was dominated by Cole’s solid performance on the mound.

He gave up just a run in the second inning and lasted a season-high six innings,while throwing 106 pitches, also his most of the year after missing much of the first half with an elbow injury that sidelined him in the spring.

“I thought he was great,’’ Aaron Boone said of Cole, who hadn’t thrown more than five innings in any of his previous four starts.

“He looked like our ace,’’ the manager said.

Cole allowed five hits, a walk and fanned seven, and said his command improved as the game went on during a steamy night in Baltimore.

After Ramon Urias’ RBI triple to right, Cole recovered and struck out Gunnar Henderson looking to end the bottom of the second and permitted just two more base runners the rest of his start.

“He held his stuff through the outing,’’ Boone said. “I thought his stuff was crisp. I loved the way he was competing. He had an edge to him and he was having fun.”

Boone also called the six innings “huge” for a Yankees staff whose bullpen has been worked hard of late.

Aaron Judge called Cole’s performance “impressive.”

“That’s one of the best, if not the best offense in the AL,” Judge said of the Orioles’ high-octane lineup. “For him to come in and do what he did there for us, he’s working both sides of the plate, got some big outs, especially [when] you’ve got Henderson at the top of that lineup. He’s the MVP right now. It’s impressive to see him go out there and work that offense.”

Cole simply said he was able to command his pitches better after a rocky first two innings.

Henderson and Adley Rutchsman reached to open the bottom of the first before Cole retired the next three.

And while Cole still hasn’t gotten back to where he was last year, when he was the unanimous winner of the AL Cy Young Award, this was the second time since his return last month that he gave the impression he was close after one other standout performance in Toronto on June 30.

But then Cole seemingly took a step back in his previous start against the Red Sox, when he gave up four runs in 4 ¹/₃ innings.

“He’s one of his generation’s great pitchers,’’ Boone said. “He’s an ace. He loves challenges and competition. Today, watching him, he was in control.”