Yankees’ Gerrit Cole details his performance from game 1 domination over Cleveland

Gerrit Cole, New York Yankees
Sep 29, 2020; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; New York Yankees starting pitcher Gerrit Cole (45) delivers against the Cleveland Indians in the fourth inning at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

It’s always a good thing when your ace says his first playoff game with the New York Yankees was “a lot of fun.”

The Yankees completely walloped the Indians in game one of the AL Wild Card on Tuesday evening. By a score of 12-3, not only did the offense come to play, but Gerrit Cole pitched a fantastic game. He lasted 7.0 innings, allowing six eights and two earned runs. He also set a Yankee record with 13 strikeouts and zero walks in the postseason. He currently has a 2.57 ERA.

On the other side of the street, Shane Bieber, arguably the best pitcher in the MLB this season, was absolutely torched by a powerful Yankee lineup. He gave up nine hits, seven earned runs and saw his postseason ERA bloat to 13.50.

Overall, it was a motivating performance by the Bronx Bombers, who clearly needed the few days off before the start of the series. Whatever manager Aaron Boone said to his team, it clearly sparked their confidence and allowed them to take over early on. To start the game, DJ LeMahieu slapped a single to right field, and Aaron Judge followed up with a two-run homer. It was all Yankees from that point on.

Yankees’ Cole offered his thoughts on his performance from Tuesday night:

“It was a really complete team game,” he said. “I thought that, in the middle innings when they scored, we responded even with a sizable lead, which I thought was good. Kind of tried not to allow them to get some momentum through those innings. We made some key plays on defense that kept a couple leadoff runners off the bags, which kept the pitch count down. We swung the bats really well and I enjoyed myself. So it’s a nice night.”

The performance the Yankees received from their ace is exactly why they signed him to a nine-year, $324 million deal. They expect him to be that dominant in the postseason.