TORONTO — Gerrit Cole pitched a two-hitter to close in on his second title as American League ERA king, Aaron Judge hit two home runs and the New York Yankees beat the Toronto Blue Jays 6-0 on Wednesday. Complete the campaign with a defeat.
Cole (15-4) faced at least two batters. He allowed a single and a double to Brandon Belt.
He had five strikeouts and no walks in his career. 72 of 105 pitches he threw were for strikes.
Kohli finished the season with 222 strikeouts in 209 innings. He could be a leading candidate for the American League Cy Young Trophy, and improved to an AL-leading 2.63 ERA.
Sonny Gray of Minnesota is second with a 2.80 and is scheduled to make his final regular season start this Thursday. He will have to go 12 scoreless innings to reach the goal.
Toronto was shut out for the second straight night by the Yankees. He started Wednesday in a position that would give him the American League’s second wild-card berth to the postseason, two and a half games ahead of Houston and two ahead of Seattle.
For the Yankees, Venezuela’s Clayber Torres went 4-1, Oswaldo Cabrera went 4-0, and Oswald Peraza went 3-0. Dominican Estevan Floreal 4-2.
For the Blue Jays, Dominican Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is 3-0. Mexico’s Alejandro Kirk is 3-0.
