Gerrit Cole returned to his ace form and Giancarlo Stanton continued his hot hitting as the Yankees defeat the Royals 3-1 to win the best of five ALDS three games to one and advance to the American League Championship Series. They will host either Cleveland or Detroit starting next Monday.
Cole went seven innings, not walking a batter. He struck out only four, but the Royals only managed six hits against him. Twice in the game Royals batters hit balls that looked like they might go out in rightfield, but Juan Soto caught both just in front of the fence.
Stanton went two for three with a walk and an RBI. In the four game he went six for sixteen with two doubles, a home run, two walks, a stolen base, and just two strike outs.
Low scoring game, but enough pitching changes as it was an elimination game. Still over by 10:30, which I appreciate as 60 approaches on Sunday. The pitching clock works, otherwise it would have been 4 hours and I’d have gone to bed.