“We are watching excellence.” 🤩
– Aaron Boone on Gerrit Cole’s 2nd scoreless start
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The New York Yankees swept the Kansas City Royals following a 7-0 win at Kauffman Stadium.
This marked the Yankees 14th straight over the Royals dating back to the ALDS in 2024. It’s the longest active streak in the MLB.
The Yankees scored 50 runs to the Royals’ 10 over this three-game stretch.
Gerrit Cole was the starting pitcher on Wednesday, May 27. It was his second start following a Tommy John surgery in March of 2025. Cole tossed an absolute gem, he gave up no walks in 6.2 innings with 10 strikeouts, and his fastball reached 98 mph. It was his 154th career win, and his 60th as a Yankee.
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Gerrit Cole made his first start in 2026 on May 22 against the Tampa Bay Rays. While still pitching six scoreless innings, Cole did not have his best stuff. He only recorded two strikeouts, with three walks, and two hits.
On Wednesday, it was a different story.
“Feel like maybe the first game was a little appetizer and that was the main course right there,” New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone said of Cole. “That was surgical.”
“We are watching excellence.” 🤩
– Aaron Boone on Gerrit Cole’s 2nd scoreless start
“He was dominant,” Boone added. He had everything going tonight. It was fun to watch that… You saw everything too, like good fastball, both breaking balls going, mixed in the cutter a little bit, mixed in some really good change ups along the way.”
Yankees beat writer Gary Phillips wrote on X that his season debut was going to show a bit of Tommy John ‘rust’.
“Wrote last week that if what Gerrit Cole showed in his season debut was his version of Tommy John rust, then he and the #Yankees should be very excited for what’s to come. There didn’t seem to be any rust in Cole’s second start. He totaled 4 H, 0 BB and 10 K over 6.2 scoreless innings and 79 pitches. His velo topped out at 98.4 mph, and he totaled 15 whiffs. His slider led the way with 6.”
Wrote last week that if what Gerrit Cole showed in his season debut was his version of Tommy John rust, then he and the #Yankees should be very excited for what’s to come.
There didn’t seem to be any rust in Cole’s second start. He totaled 4 H, 0 BB and 10 K over 6.2 scoreless
Yankees captain Aaron Judge, adds to the discourse about Cole’s dominance, calling him “one of the greatest to ever do it.”
Judge supported Cole by keeping the Royals scoreless after gunning down Michael Massey at home plate in the bottom of the fourth inning.
“He’s one of the greatest to ever do it, and you see it with starts like this where you come back from major surgery and it looks like you haven’t even skipped a beat,” Judge added. “It’s just impressive to watch, impressive to see… it’s just fun to watch.”
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35-year-old Gerrit Cole is in year 14 of his MLB career. He was drafted as the no. 1 overall pick in the 2011 MLB draft by the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Cole spent five seasons with the Pirates following his debut in 2013. He then was traded to the Houston Astros ahead of the 2018 season.
The right-handed pitcher finally made his way to the Bronx in 2020, where he signed a nine-year, $324 million contract in 2020. Cole went on to win his first career Cy Young award in 2023.
He posted a career high in innings pitched (209), with a 2.63 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, and 222 strikeouts.
McKenna Van Gundy McKenna Van Gundy is a sports journalist covering the NFL for Heavy.com. She spent two years as a sports contributor for her University's newspaper, covering games and writing feature stories on players and coaches. She currently works for the NFL as a digital programming associate and lives in the greater Los Angeles area. More about McKenna Van Gundy
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