The Yankees jumped ahead two batters into the game, then tacked on single runs in the fifth and sixth. That's when the brouhaha began. The Royals' Maikel Garcia took offense to Anthony Volpe's tag(s) on a double-play turn, and after some barking and staring the benches and bullpens emptied. There were no punches thrown. Just yapping. Even that didn't wake up the Royals lineup.
Cole tossed seven innings of one-run baseball on just 87 pitches. He scattered six hits while walking none and striking out four. Since the start of August, Cole has permitted only 19 earned runs over 12 starts and seven of those runs came in one start, a mid-September blowup against the Boston Red Sox.
Cleveland's David Fry hit a pinch hit homer and then bunted home the winning run in the Guardians' come-from-behind road win over the Detroit Tigers. Meanwhile, the Yankees polished off a 3-1 win and now await the winner of the Guardians-Tigers Game 5.
Needing to crack Cole in an elimination game, Pham led the charge with three hits but got no help until Witt and Vinnie Pasquantino teamed up to provide the Royals' only run in the sixth inning. All of this might have felt overwhelming for the Royals, as they struggled against a playoff-hardened Yankees team.
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