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Gerrit Cole throws complete game in Yankees 2-0 win over Twins

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Yankees
AP Photo/John Minchillo

BRONX — DJ LeMahieu’s bat handled the offense and Gerrit Cole threw a complete game shutout for the Yankees in a 2-0 win over the Minnesota Twins. Sunday was just the second time Cole had thrown a complete game in his Yankee career. 

LeMahieu hit an RBI single in the bottom of the third inning for New York’s first run of the game and then added to the Bombers’ lead with his second home run of the season in the sixth. Sunday was his first multi-RBI game of the season and his first since July 31, 2022. 

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Cole carried a no-hit game into the top of the fifth inning before Donovan Solano hit a 2-2 slider into left field for a base hit. The Yankees ace struck out 10 batters, including seven through the first four innings, and allowed just two hits in the complete game. 

“Good approach, good command,” Cole said about his afternoon. “You’re always giving a shot, giving yourself a chance to have success when you’re executing commanding pitches.” 

His fourth-inning strike out of Carlos Correa moved him ahead of Whitey Ford on the all-time strikeout list. The 10 K outing was his 23rd double-digit strikeout game and tied him with Ron Guidry for the franchise record. 

The impressive day was the Yankee ace’s fourth win of the year. 

“Just his command of everything, you know, he’s in rhythm with the (pitch) clock,” Boone said about what stood out about Cole on Sunday. “He’s just handling situation after situation so well, but I think it’s his fastball command and the fact that he’s pressuring in a lot of different places in the strike zone. It’s been huge for him. The secondary stuff I thought all played an important role, all of them. That’s a big-time performance right there.”

The Yankees got on the board in the third inning when LeMahieu hit a line drive to right field driving home Aaron Judge and putting the Yankees ahead by one. Judge walked in the second at-bat of the bottom of the inning and Anthony Rizzo was hit by a pitch to put two New York baserunners on before LeMahieu hit.

The hit-by-pitch was the 204th of Rizzo’s career and tied him for eighth all-time in Major League Baseball for hit-by-pitches. Rizzo reached third base in the inning, but the Yankees weren’t able to add to the lead. 

Yankees
New York Yankees’ DJ LeMahieu, right, celebrates with third base coach Luis Rojas (67) as he runs the bases after hitting a solo home run off Minnesota Twins starting pitcher Pablo Lopez in the sixth inning of a baseball game, Sunday, April 16, 2023, in New York.AP Photo/John Minchillo

New York stranded runners in scoring position in each of the game’s first two innings, but they finally added to their lead with LeMahieu’s homer in the sixth inning. LeMahieu drove a 1-2 fastball into right field that hit off the top of the wall and bounced into the stands.

“I always feel that way with (Cole),” LeMahieu said when asked if it felt like all the Yankees needed was a run. “But he was pretty locked in today. It felt like we didn’t need a whole lot today. He didn’t need a whole lot of support today.”

Anthony Volpe extended his hitting streak to five games with a base hit in the fifth. He later stole second marking his seventh stolen base on seven attempts this season. 

The five-game hitting streak comes after he went six straight games without a hit. 

Injury Notes: Josh Donaldson will play a rehab game on Tuesday with the Somerset Patriots in Double-A and he could be activated on Wednesday. The infielder had been sidelined with a hamstring issue and had been doing work at Yankee Stadium over the past couple of days. Boone said that when Donaldson returned from the IL he would get back to the starting third baseman role. … Harrison Bader was on the field doing some work in the outfield as well on Sunday. … Luis Severino threw a bullpen prior to the Yankees hosting the Twins.

For more on the Yankees, visit AMNY.com

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