The Yankees found themselves in an odd situation on Tuesday night at Yankee Stadium. They beat the Cleveland Guardians in convincing fashion by a score of 5-1 in a decisive Game 5 to officially decide the ALDS. That’s a cause worth celebrating, but ace Gerrit Cole didn’t look into it.
Beating the Guardians and advancing to face the Astros in another ALCS isn’t the odd situation. But due to MLB’s poor scheduling and Mother Nature not cooperating, New York had to immediately pack its things and head to Houston for Game 1 on Wednesday afternoon.
Well, not before they did some celebrating to commemorate the big victory. It was probably a little more subdued than normal, but it sure looks like the Yankees still had a good time. As they should — this is a huge accomplishment that most teams (outside of the Astros recently) don’t achieve every year.
How did Gerrit Cole feel about it, though? He was prepared with ski goggles and a beer in hand, but it looks like the right-hander had enough of the partying at a certain point in the night:
Gerrit Cole, known party animal #RepBX #Playoffs pic.twitter.com/G0YQhjKCHF
— Jim Cricket (@JimKrickett) October 18, 2022
This is just hilarious. It also gives me strong Jay Bruce vibes from back in 2016 when he was with the Mets.
Did you see this from the @mets celebration? Jay Bruce looks out of it. #mets @bustedcoverage pic.twitter.com/wjoXahV5NP
— Sam Zee (@SamZComedy) October 3, 2016
Not exactly the same thing, but we’re definitely in the same ballpark here (sorry, I had to). Or, maybe he was just channeling his inner Kobe Bryant because the job isn’t finished yet.
Cole is a big reason why the Yankees were celebrating in the first place. After getting the ALDS started with a victory thanks to his solid outing, he did the same thing in Game 4 with New York facing elimination. Through 13.1 innings so far this postseason, Cole has compiled a 2.03 ERA and 0.90 WHIP to go along with a 30.2% strikeout rate and 3.8% walk rate.
For the Yankees to advance to their first World Series since winning it all in 2009, they’ll need Cole to continue performing like that. And if New York gets to celebrate anymore this October, he’ll have another shot to show he knows how to party.
Matt Musico can be reached at matt.musico@xlmedia.com and you can follow him on Twitter: @mmusico8.
