With Gerrit Cole back on the mound, the New York Yankees aim to continue their recent dominance of the Kansas City Royals.
Looking to build on his much-anticipated 2026 debut, Cole tries to help the visiting Yankees complete a series sweep with their 14th consecutive victory over the Royals on Wednesday night.
Back from Tommy John surgery and making his first appearance since Game 5 of the 2024 World Series, Cole (0-0, 0.00 ERA) was solid on Friday. He allowed two hits and three walks on 72 pitches over six scoreless innings of the Yankees’ 4-2 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays.
“It’s a little bit like riding a bike,” Cole told MLB.com. “Same old thought process: compete, go pitch-to-pitch.
“Give it everything you got.”
New York manager Aaron Boone said Cole responded well in the recovery, and it’s possible he could be stretched further from a pitch-count standpoint in this contest.
“It felt really, really good to be out there,” Cole said. “It’s a good step forward. I’m looking forward to (Wednesday).”
Cole hasn’t faced the Royals since the 2024 American League Division Series. He is 4-1 with a 2.77 ERA in eight career appearances (all starts) versus Kansas City.
After rallying to win 4-3 in Monday’s opener, the Yankees clubbed six home runs during a 15-1 rout Tuesday to extend their winning streak to 12 games over the Royals.
Amed Rosario homered twice with four RBIs on Tuesday, Cody Bellinger went deep for one of his three hits and had three RBIs as the Yankees won their third straight game. Ben Rice also added three hits and is 7-for-19 with five RBIs and eight runs in five games versus Kansas City this season.
Bellinger is batting .355 with three homers and six RBIs in his last nine games. Bellinger and Rosario are a combined 3-for-9 with a home run apiece against scheduled Royals starter Noah Cameron (2-3, 4.72).
The second-year left-hander is 0-2 with a 10.24 ERA in two career encounters (both starts) against the Yankees.
He has combined to yield 13 runs — 11 earned — and 14 hits, including five homers over 9 2/3 innings of two career starts versus New York. Seven of those runs, five earned, and three homers came over four innings of the Royals’ 13-4 loss at Yankee Stadium on April 18.
Cameron allowed at least three runs in six straight starts prior to Friday versus Seattle. That’s when Cameron yielded four hits and two walks, while matching a career high with eight strikeouts over six solid innings of the Royals’ 2-0 home loss.
“He’s picking himself up, getting more consistent with his arm mechanics, getting the arm slot in the right spot more consistently, so the pitches behave the way that he’s used to,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said.
Bobby Witt Jr. went deep Tuesday for Kansas City, which has averaged 3.2 runs during its current 5-14 rut. Witt, who has homered in back-to-back contests, is batting .306 with 12 extra-base hits and 11 RBIs in 28 games against the Yankees.
He’s 2-for-6 all-time versus Cole.
–Field Level Media
