Gerrit Cole strikes out 10, throws 6 2/3 scoreless innings in second start back as Yankees cruise past Royals
New York Yankees starting pitcher Gerrit Cole has pitched 12 2/3 innings since making his long-awaited return to the bigs. The right-handed hurler still hasn’t allowed a run.
He spun 6 2/3 innings of shutout ball on Wednesday night, allowing just four hits and striking out 10 batters without issuing a walk in a 7-0 win over the Kansas City Royals.
The 35-year-old Cole tossed 79 pitches, seven more than he fired in his six-inning season debut against the Tampa Bay Rays this past Friday.
To no fault of his own, the Yankees fell to the Rays that day, on which he made his first major-league appearance since the 2024 World Series. But on Wednesday, New York emerged victorious, with Cole picking up his first win of the 2026 campaign. His ERA remains perfect through two starts.
The Yankees (34-22) completed the sweep in Kansas City, where the Royals (22-34) continued to slump. After beginning the season 19-21, they’ve gone 3-13 since.
Cole gradually built up his pitch count in the minors as he ramped up to joining the Yankees this season. Now, despite missing all of the 2025 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery last spring, the six-time All-Star has picked up where he left off two seasons ago.
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The biggest difference between Cole’s start on Wednesday and the one he made versus the Rays five days earlier was that he was consistently recording punchouts against the Royals. He notched just two Ks last week. This time around, he had seven strikeouts through four innings.
Cole was humming from the jump. In the first inning, he blew a 96-mph four-seam fastball by Royals star Bobby Witt Jr., and then, right after that, he got Vinnie Pasquantino looking with an 86-mph changeup.
That said, Cole did get a big assist from Aaron Judge in the third frame. With a runner on second, Maikel Garcia poked a single into right field, where Judge fielded it off one hop and beamed a throw to the plate. Yankees catcher Austin Wells tagged out Michael Massey, who was trying to make it all the way home.
Yankees manager Aaron Boone turned to the bullpen with two outs and a man on first in the seventh. At the time, New York was ahead 5-0.
Ben Rice drove in three of New York’s seven total runs. He scored one with a triple in the fourth and two more with a single in the top of the seventh.
Cole was the headliner, though. He’s slid right back into the Yankees’ rotation.
