The New York Yankees extended their winning streak to five games and are now 45-16 on the season after beating the Tampa Bay Rays, 2-0, in their series opener on Tuesday.
Their dream season continues: they are the best team in baseball by a considerable margin, and are beating poor and great teams alike.
Last night’s victory came with a vintage Gerrit Cole performance: the Yankees’ ace hurled six excellent innings in which he didn’t allow any runs and struck out seven.
When Cole needed it, his defense came to the rescue and helped him secure all 18 outs.
It was great seeing Cole rebound after a horrific start last week against the Minnesota Twins.
On June 9, the righty had allowed seven earned runs in 2.1 innings of work, in a game that the Yankees ended up winning against all odds (Cole was on the receiving end of five home runs).
Cole Redeemed Himself With A Stellar Start
But last night, the Rays couldn’t touch Cole.
For the season, the talented right-hander, who has been the runner-up in the Cy Young voting in both 2019 and 2021, has a 6-1 record with a 3.33 ERA.
That ERA is inflated by the aforementioned start against the Twins.
In any case, he has had a terrific season overall, with 91 strikeouts in 73 frames and a 1.07 WHIP.
Gerrit Cole has 4 scoreless starts of 6+ IP this season. That's tied for the most in MLB.
— Katie Sharp (@ktsharp) June 15, 2022
Cole is looking for the first Cy Young award of his career, and 2022 seems like a perfect year to fight for it.
The problem is that there is too much competition, including some of Cole’s teammates.
Nestor Cortes Jr., for example, is perhaps the top candidate to take home the award.
Cole, however, remains a dependable ace in his prime looking for individual and collective glory.
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