Throughout spring training, the Yankees were encouraged by the spot Gerrit Cole found himself in both physically and mentally, feeling more settled in his first fully normal camp with the team.
The good vibes have translated into the first month of the regular season, and then some.
Cole continued his dominant start to the season on Sunday afternoon, firing a complete-game shutout with 10 strikeouts to lift the Yankees to a 2-0 win over the Twins in The Bronx.
The Yankees had bullpen action in the eighth inning, but Cole came back out for the ninth at 98 pitches and got the 9-1-2 batters out in order to end the game in style.
Through his first four starts, Cole has given up just three runs across 28 ⅓ innings while striking out 32.
Cole did not allow a hit until the fifth inning, when Donovan Solano lofted a two-out single to left field.
He later gave up another harmless single in the sixth to Michael A. Taylor.
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Trevor Larnach hit a deep fly ball to right field in the seventh inning, but it died on the warning track, ensuring that Cole has still not allowed a home run this season after giving up an AL-high 33 last season.
With 10 strikeouts on the afternoon, Cole secured his 23rd double-digit strikeout game as a Yankee – tying him with Ron Guidry for the franchise record.
The Yankees gave Cole a lead to work with in the third inning, which was set up by Aaron Judge drawing a walk and Anthony Rizzo being hit by a pitch.
Then with two outs, the Yankees put on a hit-and-run, with DJ LeMahieu delivering a single to right field that scored Judge for the 1-0 lead.
LeMahieu later led off the sixth inning by smacking a home run off the top of the right-field wall, putting the Yankees up 2-0 on Twins right-hander Pablo Lopez.
