New York Yankees 5, Toronto Blue Jays 3
NEW YORK — Gerrit Cole, the New York Yankees’ ace, delivered an impressive performance, retiring the initial 16 batters and completing eight outstanding innings. This performance further solidified his position as a frontrunner for the Cy Young Award, and it allowed the Yankees to maintain a winning record with a 5-3 triumph over the Toronto Blue Jays on Thursday night.
Gerrit Cole (14-4) turned in an exceptional performance, pitching his longest outing since a two-hit shutout against Minnesota on April 16. He only allowed one run and two hits while striking out nine and issuing no walks. This outing further lowered his AL-leading ERA to 2.75.
Cole extended his winning streak to four games, bouncing back from a tough loss to Boston on August 19. Remarkably, he achieved the feat of allowing two runs or fewer for the 25th time this season, leading the majors in this category. Additionally, he improved his record to 8-3 following a Yankees’ loss.
Cole reached 200 innings for the second consecutive season and the sixth time overall, making him the only pitcher to accomplish this feat five times since 2017.
The Yankees secured a 5-3 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays, preventing a three-game sweep. Jake Bauers launched a three-run home run early in the game against Jose Berríos (11-11). Aaron Judge and Estevan Florial contributed with RBI doubles.
Despite Cole’s dominant performance, his perfect game bid was spoiled in the fourth inning when Alejandro Kirk doubled. After giving up the hit, Cole struck out Kevin Kiermaier and retired George Springer, his former Houston teammate. He added two more strikeouts in the seventh by fanning Bo Bichette and Davis Schneider.
In the eighth inning, Cole allowed his second hit when Matt Chapman led off with a double, eventually scoring on a wild pitch. Clay Holmes entered the game and secured the final outs of the inning.
Holmes faced some trouble in the ninth, conceding two runs on an RBI fielder’s choice by pinch-hitter Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and a fielding error by Gleyber Torres.
The Yankees, aiming to avoid their first losing season since 1992, improved to a 78-77 record with nine games left in the season, averting a home sweep by the Blue Jays for the second time in three years.
Jose Berríos pitched for Toronto and allowed four runs and seven hits in 5 2/3 innings.
UP NEXT:
On Friday, New York’s right-handed pitcher, Luke Weaver, who recently made his second start after being acquired from Seattle, will face off against Arizona’s rookie right-handed pitcher, Brandon Pfaadt, who holds a record of 2-8 with a 5.86 ERA.
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