Cole Outduels Burnes; Yanks Clinch AL East! NY 10 Baltimore 1

September 27, 2024 paperbacklou 2024 0
Aaron Judge hits a SKY HIGH homer to left in the 7th for a 9-0 lead -- his 58th HR of the year.

Gerrit Cole pitched a 2-hit shutout into the 7th inning, out-dueling Baltimore ace Corbin Burnes in a tight, 1-0 game through 5 innings — and the Yankee offense exploded against the Baltimore pen, turning that tight game into an easy 10-1 win at Yankee Stadium on a warm, tropical, overcast Thursday night.

Giancarlo Stanton was the hitting hero — blasting a solo homer off Burnes in the 2nd to give NY a 1-0 lead that Cole made stand up through 5 innings, then ripping a booming, bases-loaded-clearing double off Cionel Perez in the 6th to give NY a 5-0 lead.

A clutch, 2-out, 2-RBI double by Anthony Rizzo later in that 6th broke it open to 7-0, and Aaron Judge hit a SKY HIGH 2-run BOMB in the 7th to make it 9-0.

“It means a lot,” said manager Aaron Boone about winning the AL East. “You go into spring training wanting to get into the playoffs; we checked that box. Then you want to win your division if you can. It’s the American League East — we know what a gauntlet that is every year — you know it’s going to test you. I feel like we’ve been through a lot as a team already this year; I like to think we’re battle tested for what’s ahead. But I’m really excited for these guys — they’ve persevered through a lot of moments in the season. A long way to go but I know we’ll enjoy this right now.”

NY improves to 93-66, clinch the AL East title, and are 1 game ahead of Cleveland for best record in the AL with 3 games to go. The Yankees own the tie-breaker with Cleveland, having beaten them 4 out of 6 this year. Baltimore drops to 88-71, the leading AL Wild Card team.

1. Cole Spectacular

There was pressure on the Yanks going into this game — as their 6-game lead for the AL East title with 6 games left had been sliced to 4 games with 4 games left, after Baltimore beat them the first 2 games of the series. Yankee fans didn’t want to see another Toronto-in-1987, when the Blue Jays lost their last 7 games of the season to get edged out of the playoffs by Detroit.

The Yanks were facing Baltimore’s ace, Corbin Burnes. The Yanks had their ace, Gerrit Cole.

And Cole ‘threw down’ — a brilliant 2-hit shutout into the 7th — outlasting Burnes, who left down 1-0 after 5 innings.

Cole pitched a no-hitter into the 5th, broken up by a 2-out single by a Ramon Urias. He only walked one batter — a 2-out walk in the 3rd. Cole got the last out of the 5th, and held the 1-0 lead into the 6th inning in a tense, tight game.

In the 6th, Cole allowed a leadoff single to James McCann, but then got the tough Gunnar Henderson to line out to center, and the tough Jordan Westburg to ground out, moving McCann to 2nd with 2 outs. Cole went 0-2 on the tough Anthony Santander, who then ripped a foul ball off of him. Phew. On the next pitch, Cole appeared to strike Santander out with a knuckle curve that dropped into the top of the strike zone — but the ump called it a ball.

Cole was visibly pissed (as was Boone and Yankee fans all over the universe). Cole reared back and struck out Santander swinging with a 98-MPH inside fastball to end the inning.

By the 7th Cole had a 7-0 lead. He got the first 2 outs of the inning — the second out a hard lineout by Adley Rutschman to 2nd base. Boone relieved him at 101 pitches.

Cole’s line: 6.2 IP, 2 hits, 0 runs, 5 K’s, 1 walk. He finishes the regular season at 8-5 3.41.

2. Giancarlo HR the Only Offense vs Burnes

Meanwhile Corbin Burnes was throwing down too. Baltimore acquired Burnes from Milwaukee in the off season to be their ace. They gave up 2 top prospects for him — lefty pitcher DL Hall and infielder Joey Ortiz.

Burnes has been exactly that for Baltimore — their ace. With the loss in this game he finishes the year 15-9 2.92.

Burnes struck out the side 1-2-3 in the 1st inning, and got Austin Wells to ground out leading off the 2nd — but Giancarlo Stanton got to him — smoking a homer to left for a 1-0 Yankee lead.

Burnes retired the Yanks in order in the 3rd, walked Aaron Judge but got Austin Wells to hit into a double play in the 4th (Wells smoked it but right to the shortstop), and pitched a 1-2-3 inning in the 5th. He left down 1-0 after 5 innings as Baltimore prepares for the playoffs.

Burnes is important to Baltimore, as their starting staff has been decimated by injuries — Grayson Rodriguez was shut-down for the season on August 6, while Kyle Bradish and Tyler Wells went down with Tommy John surgery earlier in the year.

3. Giancarlo 3-RBI Double Highlights 6-Run 6th

Baltimore brought in Yennier Cano for the 6th and the Yankees pounced. Gleyber Torres worked a 1-out walk, and Juan Soto ripped a single to center. Cano pitched carefully to Aaron Judge — walking him on 5 pitches to load the bases.

Turning Point

Baltimore brought in Cionel Perez to pitch. It was a turning point in the game: Austin Wells was up — he had hit the ball hard his last time up but right into a double play. This time Wells worked a 6-pitch walk for a run and a 2-0 lead as a sold-out Yankee Stadium erupted!

And then Giancarlo Stanton on the 1st pitch to him RIPPED a double to right center clearing the bases. Yankees 5 Baltimore 0. HUGE.

After Jazz Chisholm Jr. grounded out, moving Giancarlo to 3rd, Baltimore brought in Bryan Baker to pitch. He walked Jasson Dominguez, who promptly stole 2nd with 2 outs. And Anthony Rizzo came through with a clutch, 2-out single to make it 7-0.

4. Judge HR #58 Makes It 9-0

Aaron Judge put the game completely out of reach in the 7th — after Juan Soto got on due to an error by Gunnar Henderson, Judge launched a SKY HIGH FLY to left for his 58th homer of the year. NY 9 Baltimore 0.

5. Verdugo HR Makes It 10-0

Alex Verdugo joined the fun in the 8th with a homer to right for a 10-0 Yankee lead.

6. Kahnle, Holmes & Hill Finish Up

Tommy Kahnle and Clay Holmes combined for a shutout 8th, and Tim Hill pitched the 9th — allowing a number of soft infield singles to load the bases, then a fly to the warning track in center for a sac fly, before getting Cedric Mullins to ground out for the old ballgame.

The Boxscore

https://www.espn.com/mlb/boxscore/_/gameId/401570846

Be the first to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.


*