SAN DIEGO — The Yankees arrived at Sunday afternoon with a series still unsettled, a division race still open and two familiar right-handers standing between them and a successful finish to their West Coast swing.
New York and San Diego split the first two games at Petco Park. The Padres took Friday’s opener 3-2 in 10 innings. The Yankees answered Saturday with a 5-1 win built on a four-run second inning and five strong frames from Carlos Rodón, who earned the victory while Robbie Ray took the loss.
That leaves the three-game series to Gerrit Cole and Michael King. First pitch is scheduled for 4:10 p.m. ET. The Yankees enter 81-61, four games behind Tampa Bay in the AL East and holding the American League’s top wild-card position. San Diego is 74-68 and fighting to stay in the National League race.
The pitching matchup carries its own edge. Cole is 8-7 with a 3.29 ERA, 110 strikeouts and a 1.11 WHIP over 104 innings. King is 9-9 with a 3.11 ERA, 141 strikeouts and a 1.17 WHIP over 162 innings. MLB’s game preview notes that Cole has allowed three runs or fewer in 11 straight starts, posting a 2.85 ERA during that stretch.
King has been just as difficult lately. He has not allowed a run in his last two starts and has surrendered no more than two in eight of his past 11. His most recent outing was six scoreless innings against Cincinnati. Cole’s last start came Tuesday in Anaheim, where he worked 5 1/3 innings and earned the win in a 7-3 Yankees victory.
For the Yankees, the immediate stakes are simple. Win, and they take the series before returning to Yankee Stadium. Lose, and a road trip that has produced encouraging moments ends with another missed chance in a tightening postseason race.
Cole has one more piece of history within reach
There is another layer to Sunday that has nothing to do with the standings. Cole enters with 161 career victories, tied with Mike Moore for the most by any pitcher selected No. 1 overall in the MLB Draft.
Moore was the first pick by Seattle in 1981. Cole went first to Pittsburgh in 2011 after starring at UCLA. David Price, the No. 1 pick in 2007, finished his career with 157 wins, according to MLB’s historical draft records.
One victory against San Diego would give Cole 162 and sole possession of the mark. He tied Moore on Sept. 1 against the Los Angeles Angels, moving to 161-87 for his career.
The record would add another line to a résumé that already includes the 2023 American League Cy Young Award, six All-Star selections and more than 2,300 career strikeouts. It would also arrive in the same season Cole returned from Tommy John surgery after missing all of 2025.
The way Cole reached 161 separates two careers
The raw win total only tells part of the story. MLB’s player records list Cole at 2,058 career innings entering Sunday. Moore finished with 2,831 2/3 innings.
That means Cole reached 161 wins in 773 2/3 fewer innings. He also did it in 335 career starts, compared with Moore’s 440. In an era of shorter starts, deeper bullpens and fewer opportunities for starters to qualify for wins, the difference gives the tie a modern context.
Cole’s career winning percentage is also far higher. His 161-87 record works out to .649, while Moore finished 161-176, a .478 mark. Those numbers do not erase the differences between eras, but they show how efficiently Cole accumulated the same total.
King makes the battle personal
The opponent adds another Yankees connection. King spent parts of five seasons with New York and became one of the club’s most versatile arms before the December 2023 blockbuster that sent Juan Soto and Trent Grisham to the Bronx.
San Diego received King, Kyle Higashioka, Jhony Brito, Randy Vásquez and Drew Thorpe in that deal. King has since become a full-time starter for the Padres.
Sunday will be his second career start against the Yankees since the trade. He faced New York on May 6, 2025, allowing two earned runs over six innings. This time, he faces the ace he once shared a clubhouse and pitching staff with.
King’s 2026 workload has been substantial. His 162 innings are 58 more than Cole’s, though Cole did not return to the Yankees rotation until May 22 following his long rehabilitation from elbow surgery.
One start carries two very different prizes
Cole’s chase does not need embellishment. A Yankees win would give New York the series, keep pressure on Tampa Bay and send the club home with another road victory in a season in which it has been one of baseball’s strongest teams away from Yankee Stadium.
It would also move Cole alone atop a small but notable corner of MLB Draft history.
The Yankees have won five of Cole’s last seven starts. San Diego, meanwhile, has gone 12-16 in King’s starts despite his 3.11 ERA, a reminder that a strong outing does not guarantee the decision.
That is what makes Sunday’s matchup unusually clean. King can deny his former team a series win and delay Cole’s record bid. Cole can beat a former Yankees teammate, give New York the rubber game and leave Petco Park with a distinction no other pitcher drafted first overall has owned by himself.
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