Gerrit Cole delivered a masterful performance on Thursday night, holding the Kansas City Royals to just one run over seven innings and propelling the New York Yankees to a 3-1 victory, securing their spot back in the American League Championship Series. The six-time All-Star allowed only six hits and struck out four before handing the ball to the Yankees' bullpen, which dominated the tense AL Division Series. Clay Holmes pitched a perfect eighth inning, and Luke Weaver smoothly closed out the ninth, extending the Yankees' relievers' scoreless streak to 15 and two-thirds innings in this postseason.

The Yankees will face either 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 hero Giancarlo Stanton contributed key runs for the Yankees, who fittingly clinched their fourth ALCS spot in eight years on the road. They won 50 games away from home during the regular season, their highest total in 21 years.

Michael Wacha struggled for Kansas City, failing to complete five innings and allowing two runs, six hits, and a walk. His performance was not aided by a struggling offense that managed only five runs in 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 September 8, losing nine in a row, including the playoffs. However, it was a remarkable turnaround for a team that went from a 106-loss season a year ago to making its first postseason appearance since winning the 2015 World Series. With young stars like Bobby Witt Jr. signed to long-term deals, there is hope in Kansas City that this was the beginning of a new era rather than an ending.

New York set the tone early, capitalizing on Wacha's struggles. Torres hit the veteran right-hander's first pitch for a double, and Soto followed with an RBI single on just the third pitch of the night. Anthony Volpe kept the pressure on with a single in the fifth. After Alex Verdugo grounded into a forceout and Jon Berti singled, Torres delivered a two-out single to make it 2-0, ending Wacha's night.

Meanwhile, Cole only seemed to get stronger as the game progressed. 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 a single in the sixth. Tensions that had simmered all night, and throughout the series, boiled over in the bottom half. Volpe slapped a hard tag on Maikel Garcia at second base to complete a double play, and Garcia took umbrage with it. Players from both dugouts spilled onto the field before order was restored.

The near-fracas nearly ignited Kansas City. 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 frenzy, Cole got Salvador Perez to pop out lazily 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. No one 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."