AL DIVISION SERIES: ROYALS VS YANKEES

October 10, 2024

Gerrit Cole

Kauffman Stadium

New York Yankees

Postgame 4 Press Conference

Yankees 3, Royals 1

Q. Gerrit, how satisfying was tonight?

GERRIT COLE: It means a lot. It means a lot. It was a big game. It was a fun game. It was a great battle. Just a great battle. Fun to be part of.

Q. Your fastball was really crisp right away. Did you feel a lot of confidence in it?

GERRIT COLE: Yep. Yep. It's a good observation.

Q. The last batter you faced, off the bat, were you thinking home run?

GERRIT COLE: I wasn't thinking anything. Yeah, I executed my pitch. So as a pitcher, that's all you can do.

Q. You've been down this path before. What is running through you right now?

GERRIT COLE: I mean, fired up. Had a couple IPAs with the boys, sprayed some champagne. This is the greatest.

Q. Just comment on the job your bullpen did tonight and as a whole.

GERRIT COLE: Yeah, rock solid. Those guys have faced some ups and downs this year, and they persevered. It's made them better. They want the ball. We want them with the ball.

Q. How important was it keeping Witt in check and what do you think of the Royals' --

GERRIT COLE: Yeah, I've got to be honest with you, the Royals are a damn good ballclub. That was a really tough series. In terms of Witt specifically, certainly had a little bit of bad luck, hit some balls on the screws and took some -- it took a lot of good pitches to keep him in check. That's just a testament to how great of a player he is. And with a little more luck, a little more ball to the left, ball to the right, he may have a couple more hits.

But I guess fortunately the ball fell our way in that regard. Just a hell of a ballplayer, really.

Q. In '22 when you guys made the ALCS, you guys were banged up and had a tough series before. How do you feel this time compared to last time for this round?

GERRIT COLE: You know, there's so much baseball left. I mean, we're obviously confident, right. We're focused. We're trying to improve the brand of baseball that we're playing as we continue to get deeper into October. Even when you're banged up you feel the same way. That's your job. You've got to just get after the ball regardless of what you have.

Certainly with guys healthy, logically you're in a better situation, but it's baseball. It's baseball. Anything can happen.

I think our mindset is just there's a lot of baseball left, and we've got to keep improving.