NEW YORK (AP) — Gerrit Cole pitched a two-hitter with 10 strikeouts for his fourth career shutout and the second complete game in the majors this season, leading the New York Yankees to a 2-0 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Sunday.
DJ LeMahieu homered and hit an RBI single for the Yankees, who earned a split of the four-game series after putting slugger Giancarlo Stanton on the injured list with a hamstring strain before the game. New York has won or split its first five series for the first time since 2010, the Elias Sports Bureau said.
Cole (4-0) lowered his ERA to 0.95 in four starts, finishing off the Twins on 109 pitches in 2 hours, 7 minutes. He got the final nine outs on just 25 pitches and retired former Astros teammate Carlos Correa on a fly ball to end it.
“I think it’s just old school, but we had our work cut out for us today,” Cole said of the rare complete game. “We were facing a great team, a great pitcher, so, just more satisfied with the win.”
It was Cole’s seventh career complete game and his first shutout since July 10, 2021, at Houston. The only other complete game in the big leagues this year also came against Minnesota, when reigning NL Cy Young Award winner Sandy Alcantara threw a three-hitter for Miami in a 1-0 win on April 4 that lasted 1 hour, 57 minutes.
After giving up an AL-high 33 home runs last season, Cole hasn’t allowed any this year. He’s opened a season with four straight wins for the second time. The right-hander also won his first four decisions as a rookie with the Pirates in 2013.
“He’s had some pretty good stretches for us before,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “Add it all up and I feel like he’s in such a good place. I feel like how he’s using his fastball right now I think is just him continuing to evolve and grow as a great pitcher.”
Cole improved to 5-0 in six career starts against the Twins, who hit five homers off him June 9 last year in Minnesota.
“That’s what it looks like when you go out there and you face good pitching and when they’re throwing the ball pretty good,” Minnesota manager Rocco Baldelli said. “He’d throw a few pitches and kind of get away from what he wanted to do but he would find it again pretty quickly.”
It was Cole’s second double-digit strikeout game this season and 44th since the start of the 2019 season — most in the majors. He tied Ron Guidry for the team record with his 23rd double-digit strikeout game since signing with New York following the 2019 season.
“It’s special,” Cole said. “Ron’s such a good person and a great human and a great Yankee. So anytime you’re mentioned with him it’s pretty special.”
Cole didn’t allow a hit until his 66th pitch when Donovan Solano singled on a 2-2 slider after fouling off three pitches with two outs in the fifth inning. Michael A. Taylor also singled for the Twins in the sixth.
