One win away from advancing to the ALCS with their ace on the mound.
That’s the opportunity the Yankees have in front of them as Gerrit Cole will take the ball on Thursday night in Kansas City against the Royals with his team up 2-1 in the best-of-five set.
The veteran delivered a shaky performance in Game 1 against the Royals in this series. Cole surrendered three runs on seven hits in five innings of work on Saturday night. The right-hander was fortunate to keep the Yankees in the game in their eventual victory as the Royals were smoking balls all over the yard that found gloves instead of grass.
The Yankees are always confident the 34-year-old will bounce back and put them in prime position to advance to their fourth League Championship series in the past eight seasons.
“Yeah, obviously this was a big one to get, and excited to give Gerrit the ball,” said Aaron Boone after their Game 3 victory. “And hopefully he can go out and get us off to a good start tomorrow night, so we always love handing the ball to our ace.”
“But these games have been obviously really, really tough, and that team is playing really well over there. But we always feel good when we give the ball to Gerrit.”
Despite a relatively quiet performance from Matt Quatraro’s offense in Game 3, the Royals have generally been a significantly better offensive team at Kauffman Stadium than they have been as the away team. Their team OPS jumps from .679 on the road to .741 in Kansas City.
After already facing the Royals once in this series, the 2023 Cy Young award-winner understands the task ahead of him — especially in their ballpark.
“Well, it’s a different challenge. It’s the way they’re formulated. It probably bodes well for them in a large park here,” Cole said on Wednesday. “They have a lot of team speed and a lot of contact. I don’t know if it’s a conscious thing or if they just ended up with these players and they’re making the best out of the talent that the players have.
Each lineup poses different threats. I’m not sure I can rank which threat is better or worse because the bottom line is you’re trying to score runs, which they do very well. They’re here for a reason. They’re really good.”
In his Game 1 performance, Cole had the luxury of a rowdy Bronx crowd behind him. Now he heads into hostile territory with a stadium filled with fans who will be fighting to keep their season alive.
Regardless of which side the crowd is on, Cole enjoys the thrill of postseason baseball.
“Yeah, I mean, I take anything I can get in the postseason,” said Cole. “I’m not picky, home or road. You’re here, you’re here, it’s a blessing. This is a wonderful ballpark with a wonderful fan base. I expect them to be very loud and ready to go.”
“As a competitor, you respect that type of environment and look forward to playing in those situations, absolutely.”
