ANAHEIM (Calif.) -- In their 4-1 victory over the Los Angeles Angels, the New York Yankees ended a four-game losing streak by ending a career game for ace Gerrit Colley's streak.
Cole struck out 15 batters in seven innings Wednesday night, causing 32 swings and misses. This is Cole's regular-season record. Cole's 15 strikeouts were one shy of his career-high and tied him with Jacob deGrom, the New York Mets' pitcher, for the most strikeouts in seven innings by any pitcher this season.
Aaron Boone, Yankees manager, said that Cole was "dominant" when describing his start. "He's clearly had some really great ones throughout his career, and certainly with our the last two seasons; for me that was tops. He was an exemplary player, always in control and a step ahead all other players; his fastball was the best it had been all year.
Aaron Judge, All-Star outfielder, said that "just complete dominance" was his sentiment. "That's exactly what we needed from our ace today," Judge said. He is our guy. We want him to be on the mound whenever we need to win. He did it tonight.
Judge went 2-for-3 with his 30th home run and said that Cole's performance was a reminder how thankful they are for having him wear the Yankees' road greys. Cole broke David Cone's 1997 mark of 207 with 215 strikeouts, setting a new franchise record.
"The first game that I thought about was that he was talking to the Dodgers, Anaheim and a few other teams. ... He's not wearing the white and red jersey, but an away jersey. Judge stated that Judge was just a man who could change a team, change a franchise.
Cole was a master of his pitches and had a four-seam fastball. He did not allow a walk. Only Masahiro Tanaka and Michael Pineda, both Yankees pitchers, have ever had more than 15 strikeout games. This was Cole's third game with at least 15 strikeouts in a career, which is third among active pitchers after Chris Sale (43) and Max Scherzer (6).
In three at-bats Cole struck out ShoheiOhtani. All were on four-seam, 99 mph fastballs. Cole became the first pitcher to strikeout the two-way star on four-seam fastballs.
"Obviously it was an incredible game, but it borders on what we have come to expect from Cole every time." "He's that great," Kyle Higashioka said, Cole's personal catcher. "Shohei's a special player. He is undoubtedly the most exciting player right now. Gerrit certainly rose to the occasion and brought his best, doing what we all know he can do.
Cole was a product of Orange Lutheran High School which is less than five miles away from Angel Stadium. Cole had a large group of family and friends present at "The Big A", New York's road trip finale.
It's a very special day. It's always nice to come out and see some people back there," Cole stated when he described pitching home in front of Yankees fans for the first time. "This was the final game of a road trip. We were trying to keep the trip over.500, so there is a bit more intensity. It's important not to get swept away on the road. It's even more special to do it in front your family.
The Yankees completed their nine-game swing with a 5-4 win and entered the clubhouse seven games behind the AL East-leading Tampa Bay Rays. They were two games ahead of Boston Red Sox for the first American League Wild Card. On Wednesday night in St. Petersburg Florida, the Red Sox defeated the Rays by a score of 3-2.
New York's performance has improved to 22-8 since August 1st and 31-13 since the All Star break.
