New York Yankees Staff ace Gerrit Cole notched his 2,000th career strikeout Tuesday night against the visiting Baltimore Orioles
Cole became the third-fastest pitcher with 2,000 strikeouts in games played (278) and innings pitched (1,714 2/3). Only Randy Johnson and Clayton Kershaw achieved it in fewer games, while Chris Sale and Pedro Martinez reached the milestone in fewer innings.
Cole, who entered Tuesday with 1,998 career strikeouts, got off to a rocky start in Game 1 of the series when he allowed two runs in the first inning. But he retired the team in order in second, closing the inning with back-to-back outs from Terrin Vavra and Jorge Mateo to reach 2,000.
Cole, 32, has his total strikeouts in 11 major league seasons with the Pittsburgh Pirates (2013-17), Houston Astros (2018-19) and Yankees (2020-23). He led the Majors in strikeouts twice, stoking 326 in 2019 and 257 last year
Cole was 5-0 with a 2.01 ERA in 10 starts heading into Tuesday’s game.
–Field-Level Media