Cole strikes out 15 as Yankees stop slide at four

ANAHEIM, Calif. — The New York Yankees snapped a four-game losing streak with a career game for ace Gerrit Cole in their 4-1 win over the Los Angeles Angels.

Cole induced 32 swings and misses, a new career-high, striking out 15 batters over 7 innings Wednesday night. Cole’s 15 strikeouts, one short of his career high, tied him with the New York Mets‘ Jacob deGrom for the most strikeouts through 7 innings of a game by any pitcher this season.

Cole had exceptional command of all his pitches, particularly his 4-seam fastball, and did not issue a single walk. Only two other Yankees pitchers have had 15-plus strikeout games without issuing a single base on balls, Michael Pineda in 2015 and Masahiro Tanaka in 2017. It was Cole’s third career 15K-plus strikeout game, third most among active pitchers behind Chris Sale (4) and Max Scherzer (6).

Cole struck out Shohei Ohtani in three at-bats, all on 4-seam, 98 mph-plus fastballs, becoming the first pitcher to strike out the two-way superstar on 4-seam fastballs in a game.

A product of Orange Lutheran High School, located less than five miles from Angels Stadium, Cole had an extensive group of friends and family present ‘The Big A’ in New York’s road-trip finale.

The Yankees finished their 9-game swing 5-4 and walked into the clubhouse 2 games ahead of the Boston Red Sox for the first American League wild card, and seven games behind the AL East-leading Tampa Bay Rays. The Red Sox outlasted the Rays, 3-2, on Wednesday night.