FALL CLASSIC GETS GOING WITH COLE GOING FOR RECORD
HOUSTON—GERRIT Cole rattles off the names of the pitching great sw ith ease, featuring the same command he shows with his vaunted four-seam fastball.
Bob Gibson. Tom Seaver. Don Drysdale.
Plus the guy she saw in person asa kid—randy johnson an dc u rts chilling—when they dominate di n October.
Now in t hem ids to fpe rhaps the most remarkable run in baseball history, it’ s his turn, starting Game 1 of the World series.
“The people you keep referring to,” Cole said Monday, “got the job done. SO I’ m trying to deliver on that front .”
Because as we all know, heading into Tuesday night’ s opener between hi sh ouston Astro san dt he Washington Nationals ,t his is when reputations ar ebu ilt—or wrecked.
Cole enters this match up against fellow ace Max Scherzer at 19-0 in his last 25 starts, including three wins in the play- offs. No pitcher has ever won 20 ina row in a single season.
Cole led the major sin strikeouts and topped the AL in ERA.
“When you dream as a little kid, you dream about storybook endings and storybook players and scenario sl ike that,” Cole said.
F using his talent with the As tr os’ fortified analytics approach, Cole has found what works best for him. Among the result sw it hh i sf our-seamer, curve and slider: Nearly 1 7pe rcen to fh i sp itches resul ti na swing-and-miss, the highest rate of anyone since such data has been tracked in the las t18 years.