Empire Writes Back
Fansided

Gerrit Cole Twirls a Gem Sending the New York Yankees to the ALCS

The New York Yankees are heading to the ALCS thanks to a massive outing by Gerrit Cole.

By Nicholas Rome

Oct 10, 2024; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; New York Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole (45) throws a pitch during the first inning against the Kansas City Royals during game four of the ALDS for the 2024 MLB Playoffs at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-Imagn Images
Oct 10, 2024; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; New York Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole (45) throws a pitch during the first inning against the Kansas City Royals during game four of the ALDS for the 2024 MLB Playoffs at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-Imagn Images / Denny Medley-Imagn Images
facebooktwitterreddit

When you go out in free agency and sign a starting pitcher to a nine-year deal worth 324 million dollars you do it for a reason. The Yankees didn't sign Gerrit Cole so he could win a Cy Young or so he could give them thirty solid starts during the regular season, they did it so he could be the ace that goes out and wins a game by himself.

That's exactly what Gerrit Cole did on Thursday Night as the Yankees beat the Royals in four games to move onto the American League Championship Series. Cole pitched seven innings, allowing just six hits and one run while striking out four and he likely could've gone longer finishing the game with 84 pitches.

The Yankees hitters did their best to get Cole an early lead, as Gleyber Torres led the game off with a double which was followed up by a Juan Soto RBI single. The game stayed quiet until the fifth when solid hitting by the bottom of the lineup led to Gleyber Torres hitting an RBI single.

In the sixth inning, Aaron Judge would finally break out of his postseason slump roping a double off of the wall which led to a third Yankees run in the sixth as Giancarlo Stanton drove in Judge.

Gerrit Cole started to show some cracks in the bottom of the sixth but he got a massive double play but, it kind of knocked him out of a rhythm. Anthony Volpe and Maikel Garcia got into it over what appeared to be a late slide emptying the benches. After the benches were emptied, Cole lost his rhythm allowing his first run on a double by Vinny Pasquantino but Cole kept the score at 3-1.

In the eighth, Aaron Boone turned the game over to his bullpen starting with Clay Holmes who quickly dismantled the Royals. Then in the ninth inning, Luke Weaver came in and shut the Royals down striking out two, and got a soft popout to center to clinch the win.

While everyone likes to blame Aaron Boone when things go wrong for the Yankees, he deserves some credit for everything he did right. Fans were calling for Stanton to be benched because of his lack of speed but, Boone stuck with him and it paid off.

Every bullpen decision in this series felt like it was executed to perfection. The decision to start Jon Berti at first paid off as he was great at the plate and made a handful of solid defensive plays. The Yankees skipper needs to keep pushing the right buttons but this first series was a success.

More New York Yankees News:

feed

Home/New York Yankees