BRONX, NY — Yankees ace Gerrit Cole was impeccable on Sunday afternoon at the Stadium, recording a complete game shutout against the Twins with ten strikeouts – his fourth career shutout, and seventh complete game. The 32-year-old right-hander surrendered two hits and one walk on 109 pitches, 73 for strikes in New York’s 2-0 victory over Minnesota.
Cole Breeze. @GerritCole45 🔥 pic.twitter.com/5pfSxE1xh9
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) April 16, 2023
Complete domination from the first pitch of the game until the end with a crowd of 39,342 singing along to Frank Sinatra’s “New York, New York” – “Start Spreading The News.”
“We needed to defend our turf and we played a great game,” Cole said during an on-field postgame interview. “We made some adjustments from last start, and (Jose) Trevino was on fire.”
He added: “A lot of respect to those guys (Minnesota). I mean, they’re really good and Carlos (Correa) is really good. They’re just great ballplayers and they have a lot of fight.”
CG for GC 🔒
Presented by @STIHLUSA pic.twitter.com/ye3gGx9ORH
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) April 16, 2023
With pitching domination and a clock alternating the pace of play, the game finished within two hours and seven minutes…
“The game was moving along,” DJ LeMahieu said, who was 2-4 with a HR and two RBI. “Always ready, and on defense, you just want to make a play for him.”
“He (Cole) was impressive and I’m glad he can finish it off there for the CG (Complete Game).
DJ LeMahieu – Image Credit: Bill Menzel/Latino Sports
On a historic note, Cole reached double digit strikeouts in an outing for the 23rd time as a Yankee, tying Ron Guidry for the most all-time in franchise history.
Overall, Cole is off to a superb start this season: a 4-0 record, 0.95 ERA in his first four outings with 32 strikeouts. He’s on pace to achieve 200+ strikeouts, and a 15+ win season.
Similar numbers to previous years, though his main concerns came from the home run ball, surrendering a career high of 33 last season. So far in 2023, Cole has allowed zero HR and only 13 hits in 28.1 innings pitched.
“It’s fair to throw him in that conversation absolutely,” Yankees manager Aaron Bone said about Cole being the best pitcher in the game. “I think he always is, but even going into this year, he’s probably been on some level underrated, and underappreciated.”
“He’s great. He’s a great pitcher that I believe is going to end up in Cooperstown one day.”
Robert Rizzo is a journalist and co-editor of Latino Sports – Email: RobertRiz994@gmail.com
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