Gerrit Cole entered Thursday sitting at 192 innings pitched. That put him both very close to the 200 IP mark and just far enough away to make it unlikely that he would reach it in a single outing: The Yankees’ ace had pitched 8.0 or more innings in a game just once this season. But none of those games had a statistical milestone like this one waiting at the end. It felt clear from the start that Cole would be doing all he could to get those eight innings. And he did.
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Facing the Blue Jays—who are in a battle for a wild-card berth—Cole was perfect into the sixth. He kept going until he finished the eighth. His final line was marvelous: 8.0 IP, two hits, one run, no walks, nine strikeouts. It resulted in a 5–3 win for the Yankees. And it felt like the finishing touch on a Cy Young campaign. Cole now leads the American League in ERA (2.75), WHIP (1.02) and ERA+ (157).
