MLB

New York Yankees at Kansas City Royals

· ALDS - Game 4
New York Yankees
94-68, 50-31 Away
Final
3 - 1
Kansas City Royals
86-76, 45-36 Home

Gerrit Cole tosses playoff gem, shutting down Royals and sending Yankees back to ALCS with 3-1 win

Gerrit Cole lauds 'resilient' Yankees

The six-time All-Star scattered six hits and struck out four before handing the ball to the New York bullpen, which dominated a tense AL Division Series. Clay Holmes tossed a perfect eighth inning and Luke Weaver breezed through the ninth, extending the scoreless streak by Yankees relievers to 15 2/3 innings this postseason.

New York will play Cleveland or Detroit of the ALCS starting Monday night at Yankee Stadium.

“Proud of these guys,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “We get to go play for it now and we're excited about that.”

Juan Soto, Gleyber Torres and Giancarlo Stanton drove in runs for the Yankees, who fittingly clinched a spot in their fourth ALCS in eight years on the road. They won 50 games away from home in the regular season, their most in 21 years.

Michael Wacha failed to get through five innings for Kansas City, allowing two runs, six hits and a walk. He didn't get much help from a long-scuffling offense that managed just five runs total over the final three games of the series.

“In 2023, our season ended here, you know? We didn't get in the postseason,” said Aaron Judge, who secured the final out for New York. “I remember a lot of these guys were looking out on the field, and you know, we all kind of came together and said, ‘It’s not going to happen again.'”

Kansas City did not win a home game after Sept. 8, losing nine in a row including the playoffs.

Still, it was a remarkable turnaround for a club that went from 106-loss laughingstock a year ago to making its first postseason appearance since winning the 2015 World Series. And with young stars such as Bobby Witt Jr. signed to long-term deals, there is hope in Kansas City that this was a beginning rather than an ending.

“Feel really badly for those guys in the room,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said, “because as you know, this is seven, eight months of the year that they just pour it all into it, and give every ounce of effort and energy they have.”

New York set the tone from the start, pouncing on Wacha like it did in the series opener. Torres hit the veteran right-hander's first pitch of the game for a double, and Soto followed with an RBI single on just the third pitch of the night.

Anthony Volpe kept on the pressure with his single in the fifth. And after Alex Verdugo grounded into a forceout and Jon Berti singled to put runners on the corners, Torres lined a two-out single to make it 2-0 and put an end to Wacha's night.

Meanwhile, Cole only seemed to get stronger as he clicked off innings.

The reigning Cy Young Award winner retired his first six batters, worked around a leadoff single in the third and retired eight more before Tommy Pham's single in the fifth. Cole promptly struck out Kyle Isbel on three pitches to end that inning.

“It was a great battle," Cole said. “Just a great battle.”

Stanton, who hit the go-ahead homer in the eighth inning in Game 3, extended the lead to 3-0 with his single in the sixth before tensions that had simmered all night — and all series, after Yankees third baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. called the Royals' Game 2 win “lucky” — boiled over in the bottom half. Volpe slapped a hard tag on Maikel Garcia at second base to complete a double play, and the Royals third baseman took umbrage with it. Players spilled out of both dugouts before order was restored.

“I just felt like (Garcia) tried to go in and injure Volpe because he was being a sore loser,” Chisholm said. “I didn't like that. I told him that we don't do that on this side, and I'm going to stick up for my guys.”

The near-fracas nearly ignited Kansas City, though. Witt, who had been 1 for 15 in the series, followed with a base hit and Vinnie Pasquantino — who'd been 0 for 14 — had an RBI double. But with the sellout crowd of 39,012 in Kauffman Stadium whipped into a sudden frenzy, Cole got Salvador Perez to pop out lazily to second base to end the inning.

Cole's night ended after he got Isbel to fly out to the warning track with a runner aboard to end the seventh, a deep shot to right field that would have been a tying homer had it been hit to that part of Yankee Stadium.

New York's bullpen did the rest.

“We're in a good place. That doesn't mean we're in a great place,” Stanton said. "We're here to win. Noone wants to be on the losing side of this. Imagine how Kansas City feels right now. Nobody wants to feel that way. We have an opportunity to keep it rolling, but that is understood reality, that we have to take care of business.”

UP NEXT

The Yankees are headed to the ALCS for the 19th time to face the Guardians or Tigers, who play the decisive game of their AL Division Series on Saturday night in Cleveland. LHP Carlos Rodón is lined up to pitch the opener of the ALCS for New York with Cole ready to start Game 2.

The Royals head into the offseason with some momentum. Most of their key players are signed for next season or under club control, though a couple of decisions loom. Wacha could opt out of his deal after a strong season while 2B Adam Frazier has a mutual option and OF Hunter Renfroe a player option for 2025.

How can I watch New York Yankees vs. Kansas City Royals?
  • TV Channel: Yankees at Royals 2022 MLB Baseball, is broadcasted on TBS.
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Matchup Prediction

Royals: 45.5%
Yankees: 54.5%
*According to ESPN's Basketball Power Index

Scoring Summary

9th Inning Gurriel lined out to center.
9th Inning Perez struck out swinging.
9th Inning Pasquantino struck out swinging.
9th Inning Weaver relieved Holmes
9th Inning Torres flied out to right.
9th Inning Berti walked.

Statistics

https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/mlb/500/nyy.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originNYY https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/mlb/500/kc.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originKC
1 Games Played 1
1 Team Games Played 1
0 Hit By Pitch 0
13 Ground Balls 8
4 Strikeouts 7
3 Runs Batted In 1
0 Sacrifice Hit 0
8 Hits 6
1 Stolen Bases 0
5 Walks 0
0 Catcher Interference 0
3 Runs 1
2 Ground Into Double Play 1
0 Sacrifice Flies 0
32 At Bats 32
0 Home Runs 0
0 Grand Slam Home Runs 0
15 Runners Left On Base 7
0 Triples 0
1 Game Winning RBIs 0
1 Intentional Walks 0
3 Doubles 1
15 Fly Balls 17
0 Caught Stealing 0
141 Pitches 106
0 Games Started 0
0 Pinch At Bats 0
0 Pinch Hits 0
0.0 Player Rating 0.0
1 Is Qualified 1
1 Is Qualified In Steals 0
11 Total Bases 7
37 Plate Appearances 32
0.0 Projected Home Runs 0.0
3 Extra Base Hits 1
3.8 Runs Created 0.4
.250 Batting Average .188
.000 Pinch Hit Average .000
.344 Slugging Percentage .219
.281 Secondary Average .031
.351 On Base Percentage .188
.695 OBP Pct + SLG Pct .406
0.9 Ground To Fly Ball Ratio 0.5
4.0 Runs Created Per 27 Outs 0.4
27.0 Batter Rating 12.0
0.0 At Bats Per Home Run 0.0
1.00 Stolen Base Percentage 0.00
3.81 Pitches Per Plate Appearance 3.31
.094 Isolated Power .031
1.25 Walk To Strikeout Ratio 0.00
.135 Walks Per Plate Appearance .000
.031 Secondary Average Minus Batting Average -.156
6.0 Runs Produced 2.0
1.0 Runs Ratio 1.0
0.4 Patience Ratio 0.2
0.3 Balls In Play Average 0.2
78.5 MLB Rating 65.8
0.0 Offensive Wins Above Replacement 0.0
0.0 Wins Above Replacement 0.0

Game Information

Kauffman Stadium

Location: Kansas City, Missouri
Attendance: 39,012 | Capacity:

2024 American League East Standings

TEAM W L PCT GB STRK
New York 94 68 .580 - W1
Baltimore 91 71 .562 3 W3
Boston 81 81 .500 13 W1
Tampa Bay 80 82 .494 14 L1
Toronto 74 88 .457 20 L3

2024 American League Central Standings

TEAM W L PCT GB STRK
Cleveland 92 69 .571 - L2
Kansas City 86 76 .531 6.5 W1
Detroit 86 76 .531 6.5 L2
Minnesota 82 80 .506 10.5 L4
Chicago 41 121 .253 51.5 W2
Full Standings