Cole Keeps the Royals Bottled Up, Allowing 5 hits in 6 Innings
The Yankees are in first place at the end of April, with an 8 winning streak — and an ace who appears to be finding his form.
Gerrit Cole pitched a scoreless second successive inning, and the Yankees’ offense scraped together enough runs to defeat the Royals 3-0 at Kauffman Stadium on Saturday.
Cole (2-0), whose ERA was 6.35 after 3 starts, wasn’t dominant, but he’s very effective pitching with Jose Trevino behind the plate once more.
The right-hander left runners in scoring position on both occasions. He did strike out Salvador Perez with the bases loaded in the third and finished his night by striking out Bobby Witt Jr. and Kyle Isbel with runners on second and third in the 6th.
Their only extra-base hit was a double by Josh Donaldson, but it won’t affect.
In the top of the second, the Yankees seemed to have the bases loaded and no one out after Gleyber Torres led off with a single to left, Aaron Hicks walked, and Joey Gallo provided a base hit to right.
Torres scored after Isiah Kiner-Falefa grounded into a double play to give the Yankees a 1-0 lead, but it was their only run.
The Yankees would have the bases loaded again in the third, and Torres made it 2-0 with a sacrifice fly. To end the threat, Rizzo was thrown out trying to steal third.
Cole’s first hiccup came in the third inning when Edward Olivares reached on an infield single to short with one out. Nicky Lopez called for a foul out before Cole walked Whit Merrifield and Andrew Benintendi on consecutive four-pitch walks.
Salvador Perez swung at the first pitch he saw after visiting pitching coach Matt Blake and grounded the cutter too short to keep the Royals scoreless.
The Yankees added another run in the fourth inning on a sacrifice fly by Kiner-Falefa, who drove in Aaron Hicks.
UP NEXT
In Sunday’s finale, the Yankees’ RHP Luis Severino (2-0, 3.32) faces the Royals’ LHP Daniel Lynch (2-1, 3.38).
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