The New York Yankees beat the Kansas City Royals in Game 4 of the American League Division Series on Thursday.
With the win, the Yankees advanced to the American League Championship Series, which is set to begin on Monday night. The Yankees will host either the Detroit Tigers or Cleveland Guardians, who are set to play a Game 5 in their own series on Saturday night.
In the win on Thursday, the Yankees got a stellar pitching performance from ace right-hander Gerrit Cole, who went 7.0 innings. He allowed just one run and struck out four.
With the performance, he moved up a prestigious list in American League playoff history.
Per @StatsCentre on social media:
Most career strikeouts on the road by an American League pitcher:
104- Justin Verlander
79- Andy Pettitte
77- Roger Clemens
76- Mike Mussina
66- Gerrit Cole (Via 4 in Thursday’s @Yankees ALDS-clinching Game 4 win vs the Royals)
63- Max Scherzer
60- Lance McCullers Jr.
Cole has appeared in 13 different playoff series in his career, with 11 of them coming in the American League. He is 11-6 lifetime in the playoffs with a 2.94 ERA.
He helped the Astros get to the World Series in 2018 and has helped the Yankees in four different seasons.
He dealt with injury this year, going 8-5 with a 3.41 ERA for New York. He made 17 starts, striking out 99 in 95.0 innings.
Given that Cole just pitched on Thursday, he likely won’t be available for Game 1 of the series, but could be available for Tuesday in Game 2.
