Gerrit Cole struck out 12 batters in eight innings outstanding, Aaron Hicks hit a sacrifice fly and the New York Yankees beat the Tampa Bay Rays 1-0 on Wednesday amid a coronavirus outbreak that He left out Gleyber Torres.
Cole (5-1) allowed four hits and has five starts this season with at least 10 strikeouts and no passports, breaking the team’s single season record, set in 2001 by Mike Mussina.
He knocked out all three batters he faced in his last inning, including Brett Phillips hitting a 98 mph fastball to close the chapter.
Cuban Aroldis Chapman completed the game of four hits to earn his ninth save. New York won back-to-back games against the Rays for the first time since July 16-18, 2019, including the postseason.
Major league COVID-19 protocols affected the Yankees for the second day in a row. Venezuelan Torres was left out of the lineup as a precautionary measure after the team reported seven cases of coronavirus.
Yankees left fielder, Clint Frazier, was ejected by plate umpire Bill Miller in the fifth inning for alleging a third strike. Aaron Judge had three of New York’s six hits.
For the Yankees, the Colombian Gio Urshela 4-2. For the Rays, Cubans Randy Arozarena 4-1; Yandy Díaz of 3-1. The Dominicans Manuel Margot 4-0; Willy Adames 3-0.