Gerrit Cole was supposed to be the piece to put the Yankees over the top, but considering he was no ace in the wild-card, the entire organization is now facing the reality that exists for the Yanks...good is not good enough.
Baseball is built to be played over a 162 game season, so it is never the most sensible thing to evaluate everything over one game. However, if you’re looking for a reason the New York Yankees season ended abruptly, look no further than Cole not making it to the third inning. Which could've been the result of simply a bad performance, a hamstring injury, or him losing the ever so difficult grip on the ball.