KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Gerrit Cole pitched like a postseason ace Thursday night, holding the Kansas City Royals to a single run over seven innings and sending the New York Yankees to a 3-1 victory that put them back in the American League Championship Series.
The six-time All-Star scattered six hits and struck out four before handing the ball to the New York bullpen, which dominated a tense AL Division Series. Clay Holmes tossed a perfect eighth inning and Luke Weaver breezed through the ninth, extending the scoreless streak by Yankees relievers to 15⅔ innings this postseason.
New York will play Cleveland or Detroit in the ALCS starting Monday night at Yankee Stadium.
“Proud of these guys,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “We get to go play for it now and we’re excited about that.”
Juan Soto, Gleyber Torres and Game 3 star Giancarlo Stanton drove in runs for the Yankees, who fittingly clinched a spot in their fourth ALCS in eight years on the road. They won 50 games away from home in the regular season, their most in 21 years.
Michael Wacha failed to get through five innings for Kansas City, allowing two runs, six hits and a walk. He didn’t get much help from a long-scuffling offense that managed just five runs total over the final three games of the series.
“In 2023, our season ended here, you know? We didn’t get in the postseason,” said Aaron Judge, who secured the final out for New York. “I remember a lot of these guys were looking out on the field, and you know, we all kind of came together and said, ‘It’s not going to happen again.'”
Kansas City did not win a home game after Sept. 8, losing nine in a row including the playoffs.
Still, it was a remarkable turnaround for a club that went from 106-loss laughingstock a year ago to making its first postseason appearance since winning the 2015 World Series. And with young stars such as Bobby Witt Jr. signed to long-term deals, there is hope in Kansas City that this was a beginning rather than an ending.
“Feel really badly for those guys in the room,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said, “because as you know, this is seven, eight months of the year that they just pour it all into it, and give every ounce of effort and energy they have.”
New York set the tone from the start, pouncing on Wacha like it did in the series opener. Torres hit the veteran right-hander’s first pitch of the game for a double, and Soto followed with an RBI single on just the third pitch of the night.
Anthony Volpe kept on the pressure with his single in the fifth. And after Alex Verdugo grounded into a forceout and Jon Berti singled to put runners on the corners, Torres lined a two-out single to make it 2-0 and put an end to Wacha’s night.
Meanwhile, Cole only seemed to get stronger as he clicked off innings.
The reigning Cy Young Award winner retired his first six batters, worked around a leadoff single in the third and retired eight more before Tommy Pham‘s single in the fifth. Cole promptly struck out Kyle Isbel on three pitches to end that inning.
“It was a great battle,” Cole said. “Just a great battle.”
Stanton, who hit the go-ahead homer in the eighth inning in Game 3, extended the lead to 3-0 with his single in the sixth before tensions that had simmered all night — and all series, after Yankees third baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. called the Royals’ Game 2 win “lucky” — boiled over in the bottom half. Volpe slapped a hard tag on Maikel Garcia at second base to complete a double play, and the Royals third baseman took umbrage with it. Players spilled out of both dugouts before order was restored.
“I just felt like [Garcia] tried to go in and injure Volpe because he was being a sore loser,” Chisholm said. “I didn’t like that. I told him that we don’t do that on this side, and I’m going to stick up for my guys.”
The near fracas nearly ignited Kansas City, too. Witt, who had been 1-for-15 in the series, followed with a base hit and Vinnie Pasquantino — who’d been 0-for-14 — had an RBI double. But with the sellout crowd of 39,012 in Kauffman Stadium whipped into a sudden frenzy, Cole got Salvador Perez to pop out to second base to end the inning.
Cole’s night ended after he got Isbel to fly out to the warning track with a runner aboard to end the seventh, a deep shot to right field that would have been a tying homer had it been hit to that part of Yankee Stadium.
New York’s bullpen did the rest.
“We’re in a good place. That doesn’t mean we’re in a great place,” Stanton said. “We’re here to win. Noone wants to be on the losing side of this. Imagine how Kansas City feels right now. Nobody wants to feel that way. We have an opportunity to keep it rolling, but that is understood reality, that we have to take care of business.”
Why he could win: Olson is a late replacement for Acuna as the home team’s representative at this year’s Derby. Apart from being the Braves’ first baseman, however, Olson also was born in Atlanta and grew up a Braves fan, giving him some extra motivation. The left-handed slugger led the majors in home runs in 2023 — his 54 round-trippers that season also set a franchise record — and he remains among the best in the game when it comes to exit velo and hard-hit rate.
Why he might not: The home-field advantage can also be a detriment if a player gets too hyped up in the first round. See Julio Rodriguez in Seattle in 2023, when he had a monster first round, with 41 home runs, but then tired out in the second round.
2025 home runs: 36 | Longest: 440 feet
Why he could win: It’s the season of Cal! The Mariners’ catcher is having one of the greatest slugging first halves in MLB history, as he’s been crushing mistakes all season . His easy raw power might be tailor-made for the Derby — he ranks in the 87th percentile in average exit velocity and delivers the ball, on average, at the optimal home run launch angle of 23 degrees. His calm demeanor might also be perfect for the contest as he won’t get too amped up.
Why he might not: He’s a catcher — and one who has carried a heavy workload, playing in all but one game this season. This contest is as much about stamina as anything, and whether Raleigh can carry his power through three rounds would be a concern. No catcher has ever won the Derby, with only Ivan Rodriguez back in 2005 even reaching the finals.
2025 home runs: 24 | Longest: 451 feet
Why he could win: He’s big, he’s strong, he’s young, he’s awesome, he might or might not be able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. This is the perfect opportunity for Wood to show his talent on the national stage, and he wouldn’t be the first young player to star in the Derby. He ranks in the 97th percentile in average exit velocity and 99th percentile in hard-hit rate, so he can still muscle the ball out in BP even if he slightly mishits it. His long arms might be viewed as a detriment, but remember the similarly tall Aaron Judge won in 2017.
Why he might not: His natural swing isn’t a pure uppercut — he has a pretty low average launch angle of just 6.2 degrees — so we’ll see how that plays in a rapid-fire session. In real games, his power is primarily to the opposite field, but in a Home Run Derby you can get more cheapies pulling the ball down the line.
2025 home runs: 20 | Longest: 479 feet
Why he could win: Buxton’s raw power remains as impressive as nearly any hitter in the game. He crushed a 479-foot home run earlier this season and has four others of at least 425 feet. Indeed, his “no doubter” percentage — home runs that would be out of all 30 parks based on distance — is 75%, the highest in the majors among players with more than a dozen home runs. His bat speed ranks in the 89th percentile. In other words, two tools that could translate to a BP lightning show.
Why he might not: Buxton is 31 and the Home Run Derby feels a little more like a younger man’s competition. Teoscar Hernandez did win last year at age 31, but before that, the last winner older than 29 was David Ortiz in 2010, and that was under much different rules than are used now.
2025 home runs: 16 | Longest: 463 feet
Why he could win: If you drew up a short list of players everyone wants to see in the Home Run Derby, Cruz would be near the top. He has the hardest-hit ball of the 2025 season, and the hardest ever tracked by Statcast, a 432-foot missile of a home run with an exit velocity of 122.9 mph. He also crushed a 463-foot home run in Anaheim that soared way beyond the trees in center field. With his elite bat speed — 100th percentile — Cruz has the ability to awe the crowd with a potentially all-time performance.
Why he might not: Like all first-time contestants, can he stay within himself and not get too caught up in the moment? He has a long swing, which will result in some huge blasts, but might not be the most efficient for a contest like this one, where the more swings a hitter can get in before the clock expires, the better.
2025 home runs: 23 | Longest: 425 feet
Why he could win: Although Caminero was one of the most hyped prospects entering 2024, everyone kind of forgot about him heading into this season since he didn’t immediately rip apart the majors as a rookie. In his first full season, however, he has showed off his big-time raw power — giving him a chance to become just the third player to reach 40 home runs in his age-21 season. He has perhaps the quickest bat in the majors, ranking in the 100th percentile in bat speed, and his top exit velocity ranks in the top 15. That could translate to a barrage of home runs.
Why he might not: In game action, Caminero does hit the ball on the ground quite often — in fact, he’s on pace to break Jim Rice’s record for double plays grounded into in a season. If he gets out of rhythm, that could lead to a lot of low line drives during the Derby instead of fly balls that clear the fences.
2025 home runs: 19 | Longest: 440 feet
Why he could win: The Athletics slugger has been one of the top power hitters in the majors for three seasons now and is on his way to a third straight 30-homer season. Rooker has plus bat speed and raw power, but his biggest strength is an optimal average launch angle (19 degrees in 2024, 15 degrees this season) that translates to home runs in game action. That natural swing could be picture perfect for the Home Run Derby. He also wasn’t shy about saying he wanted to participate — and maybe that bodes well for his chances.
Why he might not: Rooker might not have quite the same raw power as some of the other competitors, as he has just one home run longer than 425 feet in 2025. But that’s a little nitpicky, as 11 of his home runs have still gone 400-plus feet. He competed in the college home run derby in Omaha while at Mississippi State in 2016 and finished fourth.
2025 home runs: 17 | Longest: 442 feet
Why he could win: Chisholm might not be the most obvious name to participate, given his career high of 24 home runs, but he has belted 17 already in 2025 in his first 61 games after missing some time with an injury. He ranks among the MLB leaders in a couple of home run-related categories, ranking in the 96th percentile in expected slugging percentage and 98th percentile in barrel rate. His raw power might not match that of the other participants, but he’s a dead-pull hitter who has increased his launch angle this season, which might translate well to the Derby, even if he won’t be the guy hitting the longest home runs.
Why he might not: Most of the guys who have won this have been big, powerful sluggers. Chisholm is listed at 5-foot-11, 184 pounds, and you have to go back to Miguel Tejada in 2004 to find the last player under 6 foot to win.
CINCINNATI — Cincinnati Reds right fielder Jake Fraley was activated from the 10-day injured list on Saturday.
He had injured his right shoulder while trying to make a diving catch June 23 against the New York Yankees.
An MRI revealed a partially torn labrum that will eventually require surgery. Fraley received a cortisone shot and will try to play through it for the rest of the season.