Astros’ Cole racks up 15 Ks to top Rays • Yankees dominating Twins
How do you top ace Justin Verlander’s vintage postseason start in Game 1 of the American League Division Series?
Start Gerrit Cole in Game 2.
The Astros right-hander delivered a historic 15-strikeout outing in Houston’s 3-1 victory in Game 2 of the ALDS against the Tampa Bay Rays.
Cole dominated the Rays and became the seventh pitcher to strike out at least 15 in a postseason game and the first since Roger Clemens did it for the Yankees in Game 4 of the 2000 AL Championship Series.
“That’s an easy one to brag about because he was incredible,” said Astros manager A.J. Hinch. “He had complete command of the entire game.
“It’s hard to put into words exactly what his performance meant to us tonight. But, man, he was good. What a game.”
Bob Gibson. Sandy Koufax. Now Cole. All will be named in the same breath.
Gibson holds the postseason record for strikeouts with 17 during Game 1 of the 1968 World Series. Cole tied Koufax and three others for the third-most strikeouts.
The 15 K’s also set a franchise postseason record and ALDS record.
“That guy is unbelievable,” said third baseman Alex Bregman. “He’s just like Justin, they both prepare so well.”
“Well, I’m just happy we got the win,” said a humble Cole. “It was tight there at the end. I just was pleased with how we were going about our game plan tonight.
“We were executing more pitches than not. We put ourselves in a good position to go deep. We put ourselves in a good position to work out of a couple jams.”
Rays manager Kevin Cash was more direct. “I don’t think anything he did was surprising. He’s just that good.”
And to join even a more elite company, Cole joined Hall of Famers Jim Palmer, Tom Seaver and Bob Gibson as the only pitchers in MLB history with multiple games of at least 12 strikeouts in the playoffs.
Not a bad resume for someone about to become a free agent.
Cole exited the game after 72/3 innings leading 3-0. He threw a season-high 118 pitches, 83 for strikes, walked one with no earned runs. He won his 17th consecutive decision dating back to May to put the Astros one win away from advancing to the ALCS for the third season in a row.
And, what may be the most impressive statistic of the night – Cole had 33 swings-and-misses, the most since 2008 when the stat was tracked.
“Seriously, he’s got the best stuff in baseball,” said Bregman. “He’s a bulldog on the mound.
“To see Gerrit go out there and dominate the way he did, nobody was surprised because we know the preparation and work that he put in. We love playing behind him.”
Yankees 8, Twins 2
It was two months ago when New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone boldly declared that he would actually be in favor of a mercy rule in Major League Baseball.
Well, after watching the Yankees dismantle the Minnesota Twins in these two playoff games, maybe he is proving his point.
Can we call off the rest of the American League Division Series?
The hyped heavyweight fight between the two most explosive homerun hitting teams in baseball history has turned into a first-round TKO.
The Yankees battered the Twins once again Saturday evening in a game that was a laugher by the third inning.
The Yankees have now spent nearly eight hours pummeling the Twins, 18-6 in the first two games at Yankee Stadium, moving within one game from wrapping up the best-of-five Division Series with Game 3 mercifully scheduled Monday night at Target Field.
The Yankees have played the Twins 12 times in playoffs dating back to October 6, 2004, and have won every single game, the longest postseason winning streak by any team against an opponent in Major League Baseball history.
The Twins, who also played the Oakland A’s during the stretch, have now lost 15 consecutive playoff games, another baseball record. Enough of the preliminaries, please. Let’s bring on the American League matchup everyone has wanted to see all season:
The Yankees and Houston Astros for the pennant, beginning Saturday, October 12, at Minute Maid Park in Houston.
“Let’s close it out in Minnesota,’’ said Yankees slugger Aaron Judge, who is hitting .500 in the series and has reached base seven times in 10 plate appearances.
Simply, the Yankees have turned the Twins into pumpkins this series, subtly reminding everyone that it’s one thing to win 101 games in the AL Central where three of the division teams are tanking.
It’s quite another to compete with the beasts of the East.
“To be honest, we really haven’t been looking at the score,” said Judge. “Our main focus is to score as many runs as we can. Treat every inning like it’s 0-0. That’s what kind of keeps us in the game and keeps us locked in.” Still, who’s fooling who?
The Twins led the first two innings in Game 1, and haven’t had the lead since, watching their pitching staff crumble in front of the Yankees’ powerful lineup.
The Yankees have gone down in order just twice this series, and not a single time Saturday night.
Remarkably, with a team that hit a
franchise-record 306 home runs this season, only once have they gone backto-back innings against the Twins without drawing at least a walk.
And when the Twins boarded their plane back to Minneapolis Saturday night, they not only were worn down, but knocked out.
Bring on the Astros.