Gerrit Cole achieved a feat on Tuesday night that only five Yankees in franchise history have done before.
The $324 million ace struck out 13 batters and walked none over seven scoreless innings while facing the Baltimore Orioles in his second start of the season.
The performance made him just the sixth pitcher in Yankees history to strike out 13 batters in at least seven innings pitched without giving up a run or a walk.
The last pitcher to do it was Mashiro Tanaka in 2017. Mike Mussina did it twice in 2001, David Wells in 1998, John Candelaria in 1988 and Ron Guidry in 1984.
He also became the first pitcher in Yankees history with at least eight strikeout and five or fewer hits and two or fewer runs allowed in each of his first two starts of the season.
Cole allowed a single to start the game to Cedric Mullins but settled down quickly, striking out the next batter, Trey Mancini, and seven of the next 11 batters he faced.
He was taken out of the game after the seventh inning with 97 pitches and a 4-0 lead, in position to get the win.
It was a much more dominant outing compared to Cole’s start on Opening Day against the Blue Jays, where he allowed two runs on five hits and struck out eight over 5.1 innings pitched.
With question marks surrounding the rest of the Yankees rotation, it’s critical for Cole to pitch like an ace when it’s his turn in the rotation and performances like Tuesday’s certainly help.
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