Gerrit Cole didn’t allow a run to the rival Rays on Wednesday night, and the Yankees needed every bit of that efficiency in a 1-0 victory to clinch a rare series win at Tropicana Field.
But the Yankee ace also didn’t allow a walk, extending a streak of no free passes that dates back to last month. With 12 strikeouts on Wednesday night, including three in the eighth inning before handing the ball to Aroldis Chapman, making it 56 strikeouts since issuing his last walk. Per Sarah Langs of MLB.com, that is tied for the most consecutive strikeouts without allowing a walk since the mound was moved to its current distance in 1893, matching Curt Schilling’s mark in 2002.
Cole could surpass that mark in his next start, but he isn’t making a big deal about his historic stretch of consistent command.
“I just want to force the issue,” Cole said. “They could always hit it at somebody, I guess.”
Gerrit Cole just became the 2nd fastest to reach 1,500 strikeouts pic.twitter.com/wRyw9JaO5R
— Talkin' Yanks (@TalkinYanks) May 12, 2021
So far this season, not many have done much hitting off of Cole at all. In 52.2 innings of work, Cole has 78 strikeouts compared to just three walks, his last walk coming back on April 12 against the Blue Jays, when he allowed one run over six innings of work. He has reached double digit strikeout numbers in four of his last five starts, and currently holds a 1.37 ERA.
“He’s an ace,” Aaron Boone said. “I think he lives for pitching when it’s tough in the biggest of games…and obviously in a 1-0 game, we needed all of it…there was a ton on the line with every pitch.”
Despite the heightened stakes, Cole remained his dominant self, limiting traffic on the bases while making history along the way. Currently, he leads the league with just 0.5 walks per nine innings, and with that stellar performance, has become the first pitcher in league history to record at least 70 strikeouts and three or fewer walks in his first eight games of a season, per Katie Sharp of Stathead.
Again, those numbers don’t matter to Cole, only if they’re a byproduct of a win.
“I’m not really thinking about it,” Cole said. “There was a situation today where I was OK with a walk and actually got a chase out of it. There’s gonna be times where you’re not gonna make a mistake over the plate and try to play to the hitter’s aggressiveness…there will be a walk at some point, but just trying to stay on the offensive there.”
Cole’s latest brilliance was a joy for Boone to watch from the dugout, witnessing what he called an “absolute bulldog” on the mound.
“He’s so good and so fun to watch and so versatile out there,” Boone said. “He was very pitch-efficient early on there. any time he did lose leverage in a count he made big pitches. It was just a lot of fun to watch him operate tonight.”
Follow Ryan Chichester on Twitter: @ryanchichester1
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