Speaking to members of the media at his locker in the visiting clubhouse at Comerica Park on Tuesday night, a dejected Gerrit Cole struggled to find the words to describe his performance.

Hours earlier, the Yankees ace was yanked after just 1.2 innings pitched, the shortest start of his big-league career. 

New York went on to win the game, bailed out by 7.1 shutout frames from the Yankees' bullpen, but Cole's frustration hadn't dissipated. 

Beginning with a base hit up the middle off the bat of Miguel Cabrera, Cole faced seven batters in the frame.  

He walked four of them, throwing a total of 46 pitches—the most he's ever thrown in a single inning of his career.  

Asked what was going through his mind when he saw manager Aaron Boone emerge from the first-base dugout, calling to the bullpen, Cole said "four letter words."

He did admit, however, that on a cold night in a very long inning, his legs were shaking before Boone came out to get him in the second. 

"Certainly never had an inning like that in my career before," Cole said. "But it's not something that we can't get through."