YANKEES WAKE UP LATE TO LOSE THE SERIES

If Gerrit Cole was looking to set the tone Sunday, he certainly did. Unfortunately, it was the wrong one.

Cole opened the game by serving up back-to-back-to-back home runs to Fernando Tatis Jr., Jake Cronenworth and Manny Machado. Three batters. Three bombs. Welcome to the ballgame.

To Cole's credit, he settled down and gave the Yankees seven innings, but when you're chasing the game from the opening minutes, you're playing with fire.

The Yankees eventually woke up. Spencer Jones ripped an RBI double in the eighth, and Amed Rosario helped turn some Padres sloppiness into two more runs. Suddenly, it was 4-3 and the Yankees had a pulse.

George Lombard Jr. doubled, too, and once again the kids showed some fight. That's encouraging.

But encouraging doesn't win divisions.

The Yankees lost 4-3, dropped two of three in San Diego and now head home four games behind Tampa Bay.

September is here. The excuses are gone.

Time to stop chasing games and start winning them.