Takeaways from Yankees-Royals Game 4: New York returns to ALCS thanks to Gerrit Cole's gem

After missing the postseason in 2023, the New York Yankees find themselves eight wins away from securing their first World Series title since 2009. 

On Thursday, New York defeated the Kansas City Royals 3-1 at Kauffman Stadium to close out the American League Division Series. The Yankees head back to the ALCS for the fourth time since 2017 and will face the winner of Saturday's ALDS Game 5 matchup between the Cleveland Guardians and Detroit Tigers.

Here are three takeaways from New York's series-clinching victory: 

Yankees right-hander Gerrit Cole rebounds 

The reigning AL Cy Young Award winner turned in a lackluster performance in Game 1 of the ALDS, allowing three runs on seven hits with two walks and four strikeouts in five innings. Even so, Cole re-established himself as a workhorse the Yankees have come to expect him to be on Thursday to earn his long-awaited first series-clinching win since signing with the team in 2019.

The six-time All-Star only had four strikeouts, but he overwhelmed every Royals hitter not named Tommy Pham, who collected three hits in as many at-bats. Cole retired the first six batters he faced before giving up just one earned run on six hits in seven innings.

It was a much-needed bounce-back performance from Cole, who showed he could provide the length New York needs to continue its run this October. During the regular season, Cole completed seven innings just once, when he held the Oakland Athletics to one run across nine innings on Sept. 20.

Cole had a few flare-ups during an injury-shortened regular season, but it appears he's returned to form at just the right time for the Yankees, as he's posted a 3.00 ERA since the beginning of September. He’ll have a chance to build on Thursday's strong outing against either the Tigers or Guardians, neither of whom have particularly strong offenses, in the ALCS. 

Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge finally wakes up 

Cole wasn't the only Yankees star to rebound in Game 4, with the likely soon-to-be two-time AL MVP Judge enjoying his most productive performance of the postseason.

Judge hit a dismal .091 with one hit and a run scored through his first three games of the ALDS but finally got on track Thursday, reaching base safely three times by way of a double and two walks. The double, which came in the sixth inning, was Judge's first postseason extra-base hit since Game 5 of the 2022 ALDS against Cleveland, according to StatMuse. 

Judge's postseason struggles have been well-documented, with the 32-year-old posting a .145 batting average with 30 strikeouts in October since 2020. However, he's still unquestionably the top power hitter in baseball, and if Thursday's showing becomes the start of a hot streak, Judge is more than capable of swinging the outcome of the postseason.

Regardless of who he faces in the ALCS, it wouldn't be surprising to see Judge put it all together, given his success against the Tigers and Guardians. In six games against Detroit this season, Judge hit .364 with two home runs and three RBI. Meanwhile, the Yankees slugger registered a batting average of .375 with nine hits, five homers and 10 RBI against Cleveland. 

Royals' offseason shopping list is obvious 

While the Royals fell short of the ultimate goal of winning a World Series, it's impossible to deny that they had a successful season after losing 106 games in 2023. Nonetheless, general manager J.J. Picollo has plenty of work to do this offseason, and it's clear he must revamp the Royals lineup.

Kansas City's offense faded down the stretch, posting an MLB-worst .577 OPS in September, and its woes carried into the postseason. Despite sweeping the Baltimore Orioles in the wild-card series, the Royals scored just three runs across their two wins.

Of course, the lineup didn't fare much better in the ALDS, even though Kansas City's pitching staff kept the team in every game. After scoring five runs in its Game 1 loss, Kansas City scored a combined five runs over its final three contests, none of which came against the Yankees bullpen.

The Royals will have to stock up on bats this offseason, particularly a corner outfielder, considering Pham is set to hit free agency and MJ Melendez went 3-for-20 at the plate in the postseason.