New York Yankees ace Gerrit Cole proved that the Minnesota Twins are actually slumping after throwing a complete game shutout on Sunday.
The New York Yankees-Minnesota Twins game on Saturday was clouded by controversy, which surrounded starting pitcher Domingo German. In that game, German was warned to remove rosin from his hand in the third inning, but umpires noticed that he still had some remaining on his right pinky finger in the fourth. Despite the warning, German was able to stay in the game, which caught the ire of Twins manager Rocco Baldelli, who was ejected. Baldelli said he didn’t take issue with the use of the rosin, which is not an illegal substance, rather that German was issued a warning and didn’t comply. The crew chief, James Hoye, said after the game he didn’t feel that German’s pitching was affected by the rosin, hence why he wasn’t ejected.
If some thought that the rosin played a role in German throwing 11 strikeouts in the 6-1 win, then Gerrit Cole showed that the Twins are just in a bit of a rough patch offensively.
On Sunday, Cole pitched a complete game shutout at the expense of the Twins, helping the team pick up a 2-0 win to split the series.
Gerrit Cole shows Twins are cold after complete game shutout
It was a far cry from what Minnesota was able to do on Thursday night, in which they became the first team to score nine runs on the Yankees since the Chicago White Sox did so back in 2000.
Cole has been lights out early on in the season, as he gave up just three earned runs in his first three starts. Then on Sunday, he rendered the Twins’ bats useless, as he struck out 10 and allowed just two hits in the game. In total, the Twins only had three baserunners the entire game — Trevor Larnach in the second on a walk, Donovan Solano in the fifth on a single, and Michael A. Taylor on a single in the sixth.
In fact, Cole made some Yankees history in the game, as he tied Ron Guidry for the most games with 10-or-more strikeouts with 23.
On the year, Cole has now recorded a 0.95 ERA, a 0.74 WHIP, a 4-0 record, 32 strikeouts and just eight walks in 28.1 innings.
The Yankees are set to begin a three-game series on Tuesday against the Los Angeles Angels. The Twins, meanwhile, will look to put some more runs on the board in their three-game set against the Boston Red Sox.
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