Inside The Pinstripes

Yankees Advance to ALCS With Win Over Royals

The Yankees will go to the ALCS for the fourth time in eight years.

Joe Najarian

Oct 10, 2024; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; The New York Yankees celebrate a win over the Kansas City Royals during game four of the ALDS for the 2024 MLB Playoffs at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images
Oct 10, 2024; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; The New York Yankees celebrate a win over the Kansas City Royals during game four of the ALDS for the 2024 MLB Playoffs at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images / Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images
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One series down, two to go for the New York Yankees.

With a 3-1 victory over the Kansas City Royals, the Yankees have won the American League Division Series in four games and will advance to the American League Championship Series for the fourth time in the past eight seasons. New York's decisive win at Kauffman Stadium was the product of timely hits, an outstanding performance from Gerrit Cole, and yet another spotless game from the bullpen, which has yet to allow a run in the postseason so far.

"I thought we played really good baseball in this series," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said to YES Network reporter Meredith Marakovits. "All the games were tight and close. Credit to Kansas City, they pitched and played us really tough. But I'm proud of these guys, we get to play for a pennant now and we're excited about that."

It took just three pitches for the Yankees to grab the lead for good. Gleyber Torres greeted Royals starter Michael Wacha with a double on the very first pitch of the night, and Juan Soto followed with a single to bring him in.

Torres came through for New York again in the fifth inning, this time with two outs. Jon Berti previously extended the inning with a single that moved Alex Verdugo to third base, and Torres' subsequent single gave the Bronx Bombers a 2-0 advantage.

The RBI single also knocked Wacha out of the game, and the Royals surprisingly went to their closer, Lucas Erceg, to limit the fifth inning damage. But this decision backfired by the next inning, as the Yankees added another run against him.

Aaron Judge led off the sixth with a double for his first extra-base hit of the series; after an Austin Wells groundout moved him to third, Giancarlo Stanton scalded a ground ball into center field to extend the lead to 3-0.

Although that was it for the Yankee offense, it was more than enough for ace Gerrit Cole; after a middling start by his lofty standards in Game 1, the 34-year-old righty delivered another vintage postseason performance. Cole needed just 87 pitches to go seven innings, allowing just one run (an RBI double by Vinnie Pasquantino) on six hits, three of which came from Tommy Pham.

Cole's final pitch of the night was a bit of a heart-stopper, as Kyle Isbel (representing the tying run) hit a fly ball to the warning track in right field, but when Soto made the catch to end the inning, the Yankee ace unleashed a primal roar of excitement.

"I had really good command tonight," a champagne-soaked Cole said to Marakovits in the ecstatic Yankee clubhouse after the game. "[The fastball] was getting into good spots all night, and the run support allowed me to stay on the attack... It's just a blessing to play for this team and these guys, we play for each other."

After Cole's departure, the Yankee bullpen neatly tied everything together with perfect eighth and ninth innings. Clay Holmes pitched the eighth and retired the side in order, getting Royals' superstar shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. to conclude the frame; Holmes has yet to allow a single run in 13 postseason innings. Luke Weaver then picked up his third save of the series by breezing through the heart of Kansas City's order in the ninth; after striking out both Vinnie Pasquantino and Salvador Perez, Weaver retired Yuli Gurriel on a line drive to center, and the celebration began.

"We've got a lot of good guys in here that from day one, bought into what we were doing here," team captain Aaron Judge said during the postgame celebration. "There's a lot of guys from different teams, acquired some big names, and they fit right in. Any guy that comes over here and wears these pinstripes, they're meant to be a Yankee. It's a special group."

With their place in the ALCS secured, the Yankees are waiting to see the outcome of Saturday's winner-take-all game between the Detroit Tigers and Cleveland Guardians. The winner of that game will earn the right to face the Bronx Bombers.

Regardless of the opponent, New York will have home field advantage in the ALCS for the first time since 2012; Game 1 of the series will be played at Yankee Stadium on Monday, October 14, with a scheduled start time of 7:37 PM ET.

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Joe Najarian
JOE NAJARIAN

Joe Najarian is a Rutgers University graduate from the Class of 2022. After an eight-month stint with Jersey Sporting News (JSN), covering Rutgers Football, Rutgers Basketball, and Rutgers Baseball, Najarian became a contributing writer on Inside the Pinstripes and Inside the Mets. He additionally writes on Giants Country, FanNation’s site for the New York Giants. Follow Joe on Twitter @JoeNajarian

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