Cole 7 shutout innings, 13 Ks leads Yanks over Orioles 7-2

NEW YORK (AP) — Gerrit Cole struck out 13 and walked none over seven scoreless innings in his most dominant start since joining the New York Yankees, overwhelming the Baltimore Orioles 7-2 Tuesday night for his first win this season.

Cole (1-0) allowed four hits, three of them singles, in the type of the performance that showed why the Yankees made him baseball’s highest-paid pitcher in December 2019 with a $324 million, nine-year contract.

Jay Bruce backed him with his first Yankees home run, a solo shot in the second off Dean Kremer (0-1), and Aaron Judge added a three-run homer in the eighth.

New York has won a team-record 12 straight home games against the Orioles since May 2019, outscoring Baltimore 76-28. It moved above .500 for first time this year at 3-2.

Pitching with long sleeves on a night with a gametime temperature of 68, Cole threw 71 of 97 pitches for strikes. The 30-year-old right-hander induced 23 swinging strikes and got 17 called strikes from plate umpire Marty Foster.

He warmed up to the Rolling Stones’ “Gimme Shelter,” and the Orioles could find none. Cole got stronger as the night went on, throwing at up to 100.5 mph and retiring his last 12 batters. All four pitches were effective: He mixed 40 fastballs with 23 sliders, 21 knuckle-curves and 14 changeups.

Father Mark Cole, mother Sharon Cole and sister Erin looked on from the suite level, as they did for his no-decision against Toronto in Thursday’s opener. With no fans allowed during the 2020 regular season because of the pandemic, these were their first two chances to watch him pitch at Yankee Stadium for the team Mark Cole grew up rooting for.

Cole’s was just the seventh start ever for the Yankees of seven shutout innings with 13 strikeouts and no walks: Mike Mussina did it...

source https://www.chron.com/sports/article/Cole-7-shutout-innings-13-Ks-leads-Yanks-over-16081918.php