LEADING OFF: Cole vs Donaldson gets sticky, Texas cuts Davis

New York Yankees ace Gerrit Cole has found himself in a sticky situation. Days after Twins third baseman Josh Donaldson off-handedly alleged that Cole had been using foreign substances to sharpen his stuff, the pair will go head to head with Cole on the mound for New York at Minnesota on Wednesday night. The pitches Cole threw in his previous outing didn’t rotate as much as usual, and Donaldson casually wondered aloud last week whether Cole had suddenly stopped using substances that could spike his spin rates, fearing an MLB crackdown. Cole said the spin issues were due to mechanical flaws.