BALTIMORE — Gerrit Cole had already given the Yankees plenty to take home from Camden Yards before the final strikeout landed in the record book.
The right-hander held Baltimore to one run over six innings Thursday, allowing four hits and one walk while striking out eight in a 6-1 victory that completed a three-game sweep. The Yankees won their fourth straight, improved to 72-55 and moved within four games of Tampa Bay in the AL East.
Cole, now 7-6 with a 3.11 ERA, worked through early traffic and then controlled the middle innings. Pete Alonso singled and Gunnar Henderson walked in the first, but the Yankees ace struck out Samuel Basallo and escaped without damage. He then retired 11 straight Orioles before Dylan Beavers homered leading off the fifth.
New York finally gave him breathing room against Kyle Bradish. Jose Caballero, Ben Rice and Heliot Ramos helped create a three-run third inning. Luis García Jr. and Spencer Jones homered in the sixth, and Jazz Chisholm Jr. added an RBI triple in the eighth. Bradish took the loss, while Ryan Yarbrough followed Cole with three scoreless innings for his third save.
The eight strikeouts carried their own historical weight. Cole finished the night with 1,015 strikeouts as a Yankee, moving past Roger Clemens’ 1,014 for 12th place on the franchise list. He also earned career win No. 160, leaving him one behind Mike Moore for the most victories by a pitcher selected No. 1 overall in the MLB Draft.
The outing also continued a broader Yankees trend since Cole’s return from elbow surgery. The Yankees have increasingly received the length and strikeout volume expected from their ace, even when run support has been uneven. Thursday offered both, letting the ace pitcher attack Baltimore without asking the bullpen to protect another one-run margin.
Those were the obvious numbers. The most revealing one was buried in how Cole started almost every confrontation.
Cole started 22 of 23 hitters from ahead
Cole threw a first-pitch strike to 22 of the 23 batters he faced, a 95.7% rate. According to MLB research from Sarah Langs, it was the highest first-pitch strike rate of the Yankees ace’s career and the highest by a Yankees pitcher in a game since at least 2000 among pitchers who faced at least 20 batters.
His previous career best came April 25, 2017, with Pittsburgh, when he started 22 of 24 hitters with strikes, a 91.7% rate.
Only one Baltimore plate appearance began with Cole behind 1-0, giving him freedom to use the full shape of his five-pitch mix.
Cole said the value was not simply getting a called strike. It was forcing hitters to account for pitches they could not comfortably eliminate.
“It’s great to get ahead,” the Yankees ace said. “I think sometimes we got ahead even out of the strike zone, which means I think we’re doing a good job being unpredictable.”
The command showed up beyond the first pitch. Cole generated 15 whiffs among 93 pitches and issued only one walk. Since the All-Star break, he has produced six quality starts in seven outings with a 2.06 ERA and a 53-to-9 strikeout-to-walk ratio across 43 2/3 innings.
A 25-pitch first inning hid how efficient Yankees ace became
Thursday’s pitch totals shows another layer to the outing that the final line does not reveal.
Cole needed 25 pitches to survive the first inning, meaning 26.9% of his entire workload was spent before the Yankees came to bat a second time. He then covered his final five innings with 68 pitches, an average of 13.6 per inning.
The opening frame had the ingredients for a short start. Two men reached, and the Yankees bullpen had already handled significant innings earlier in the series.
Cole’s strike-first approach let him accelerate. Eleven consecutive outs carried him into the fifth with his pitch count back under control.
Clemens milestone puts another Yankees name behind Cole
Cole tied Roger Clemens by striking out Jackson Holliday in the sixth. He moved ahead when Basallo swung through a pitch for the second out of the inning.
The name mattered to Cole. Clemens won seven Cy Young Awards and two World Series championships with the Yankees.
“That’s the G.O.A.T.,” Cole said. “That’s a big-time name. A lot of people have been a part of it over the years, and so a lot of credit gets spread around.”
The Yankees ace added he especially respected the way Clemens carried himself on the mound.
“I think his confidence, his demeanor and his business-like approach. He seems to be a very intense and focused guy, going about his business in a certain way. That sets a great example.”
Cole’s next Yankees target is Al Downing at 1,028 strikeouts. He enters his next start 13 behind Downing for 11th place.
Cole’s post-surgery trend is becoming harder to dismiss
Thursday was Cole’s 16th start since returning from Tommy John surgery. His recent run has started to resemble the version the Yankees built their rotation around.
Cole has allowed two earned runs or fewer while striking out at least five in five consecutive starts. That is his longest single-season streak with those thresholds since joining the Yankees.
Over those five outings, beginning July 28 against the White Sox, he owns a 1.47 ERA across 30 2/3 innings. The Orioles outing also pushed him to 160 career victories, one behind Moore’s record for pitchers drafted first overall and three ahead of David Price.
The Yankees are still waiting for Max Fried to return from the injured list. Asked to rate his confidence in the rotation, Cole’s answer was brief.
“High.”
He then pointed to the same thing Thursday’s hidden number captured.
“We’re commanding the ball well and making good decisions, by and large,” Cole said.
The eight strikeouts moved Cole past a franchise great. The 22 first-pitch strikes showed why he was in position to get there. What do you think? Leave your comment below.
