Gerrit Cole gets shot to finish off Royals after shaky Game 1 start

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Gerrit Cole is set to take the ball again for the Yankees on Thursday night at Kauffman Stadium for Game 4, with a shot at sending the Yankees to the ALCS after their 3-2 win Wednesday.

And he’ll be looking for better results than he had in the opener in The Bronx.

Saturday night, Cole was hit hard throughout five-plus innings , and it could have been worse than the four runs (three earned) he allowed.

The Royals tattooed 11 balls off Cole that were clocked above 95 mph, tied for the most he’s allowed since the stat has been tracked in 2015.

The Yankees managed to outlast the Royals in that game, and Cole noted the “outstanding defense” behind him in the opener, but he’d rather not test it quite as much again.

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But he said before the Yankees came away with the victory in Game 3 that Wednesday’s result wouldn’t impact his approach to his outing.

“Well, it’s pretty simple for me,’’ Cole said before the win, noting Wednesday’s result doesn’t change his mental approach. “My goal is to go out there and try to put us in a position to win the game. … We’re trying to win all of them. [Game 3] doesn’t really change the importance at all.’’

And he likely will have to have better stuff to get by Kansas City again.

“Obviously, they had a little bit of success against him in his last start,’’ Aaron Boone said. “I’ve seen that over the years, where he has that bump in the road, and by and large, he usually answers with a really good one. So that would be my expectation for [Thursday].”

There are a few reasons for Boone to be optimistic, besides that being his default attitude.

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Perhaps biggest of all is the fact that even in this down season for the right-hander, Cole didn’t allow more than two runs in any two consecutive starts.

Cole also will be pitching on regular rest Thursday, as opposed to the eight days of rest he got between his final start of the regular season and the beginning of the ALDS.

That extended time off typically hasn’t bothered Cole throughout his career, but he’ll be on a more normal routine heading into Thursday.

Asked if that would help, Cole said, “I don’t know. I think I’m ready to go, though.”

On the down side for Cole and the Yankees: The teams that hit Cole well once this season frequently did it again the next time.

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For example, four of Cole’s worst starts of 2024 came against two teams: The Red Sox pummeled him for seven runs in their first matchup then for four runs in the follow up.

And the Mets scored six runs off Cole in both of their games this year.

As for the Royals batters, Cole said, “They don’t walk much and they don’t strike out much, so the ball is in play a lot.”

That, Cole said, “probably bodes well for them in a large park here.

They have a lot of team speed and a lot of contact. I don’t know if it’s a conscious thing or if they just ended up with these players and they’re making the best out of the talent that the players have.”

And even after a regular season in which Kansas City got into the playoffs with 86 wins, Cole knows first-hand how dangerous they can be.

“The bottom line is you’re trying to score runs, which they do very well,’’ Cole said. “They’re here for a reason. They’re really good.”

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