KANSAS CITY, Mo. In the land of the Royals, Gerrit Cole and the Yankees were kings. They before they can crown themselves champions, Felix Bautista Jersey but their ace helped them get one round closer Thursday night. Cole to sed seven strong innings of one-run ball and the Yankees gave him enough offense while being kept in the park to beat the Royals, 3-1, and win the ALDS in four games at Kauffman Stadium. The Yankees celebrate after their 3-1 series-clinching win over the Royals in Game 4 of the ALDS on Oct. 10, 2024. JASON SZENES/NEW YORK POST Aaron Judge celebrates in the locker room. Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post Theres no better feeling than going into a game where you can end someones season , Anthony Volpe said. In the same stadium where their season ended last year without a playoff appearance, the Yankees advanced to their fourth ALCS in the last eight years. But unlike the other three times, they will not meet the Astros, instead hosting the winner of the Guardians and Tigers who will play Game 5 of their ALDS on Saturday on Monday night in The Bronx for the first time since 2009. Explore More Since Ive been here with the Yankees, we havent secured a pennant, Aaron Judge said. The group that we have, how special this is, just excited for this opportunity. Its going to be something special. After Cole gave the Yankees their best outing from any starter this series, the bullpen finished off a dominant ALDS with Clay Holmes throwing a perfect eighth inning and Luke Weaver doing the same in the ninth for his third save. That made it 15 / innings without allowing an earned run from their relievers this series. Juan Soto celebrates with his Yankees teammates in the locker room. Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post Fired up, Cole said. Had a couple IPAs with the boys, sprayed some champagne. This is the greatest. Cole mi sed the first two and a half months of the season with an elbow injury and at times battled to find his form when he returned. But his performance Thursday night was the reason the Yankees signed him, though they hope to get a few more out of him before October is over. Gerrit Cole pitched seven innings for the Yankees in Game 4 on Thursday night. Charles Wenzelberg/New York Post I know we mi sed him a big part of the year, but he shows up in moments like this and thats all we need, Judge said. The Yankees entered Game 4 having gone 3-for-25 with runners in scoring position through the first three games before going 3-for-10 on Thursday to nail down the series. They jumped out to a 1-0 lead three pitches into the game on an RBI single from Juan Soto, and the red-hot Giancarlo Stanton in the sixth. Gleyber Torres #25 of the New York Yankees is greeted by Aaron Judge #99 of the New York Yankees after he scores on an RBI single by Austin Wells #28 of the New York Yankees during the first inning. Charles Wenzelberg/New York Post After when Maikel Garcia had a hard slide into second and Volpe gave him an incidental forearm while tagging him, the Royals scratched acro s a run off Cole to make it 3-1. Salvador Perez then came up as the potential tying run with Kauffman Stadium ready to explode, but Cole got him to pop out to end the threat. The Royals tried to rally again in the seventh with Tommy Pham recording his third hit in three at-bats off Cole but Kyle Isbel came up just a few feet short of a potential game-tying home run as Cole walked off the mound with a roar. Gleyber Torres celebrates his first-inning double. Charles Wenzelberg/New York Post That fired everybody up, . Gerrit, the ace that Ive never seen in my life, the fking confidence, the way he goes out there and carries his team and tells everybody to stay in it. Now the Yankees will await the winner of the Guardians and Tigers to see who will stand in the way of making it to their first World Series in 15 years. But before then, there was some time for reflection on how far the Yankees have come since last year. Go beyond the box score with the Bombers Sign up for Inside the Yankees by Greg Joyce, exclusively on Sports+. Thank you By clicking above you agree to the and . Enjoy this Post Sports+ exclusive newsletter! All day, I was just thinking about our season ending here in 23, Judge said. This is where we ended, no playoffs. That stung. A lot of guys stuck around, were just starting at the field. A lot of what-ifs and, what could we have done here? Guys made adjustments this offseason. Guys went out and put in the work. To have our season keep moving on, its pretty special. Gary Roenicke Jersey
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