HOUSTON — Houston Astros pitcher Gerrit Cole continued the game of “anything you can do, I can do at least as well” he’s played with teammate Justin Verlander this season on Saturday. Cole overpowered the Tampa Bay Rays over 7⅔ shutout innings, striking out 15 in Game 2 of the American League Division Series.
Cole’s strikeout total is tied for third on the all-time postseason list and fell just two short of the record set by St. Louis Cardinals legend Bob Gibson, who fanned 17 Detroit Tigers in Game 1 of the 1968 World Series. It broke Houston’s franchise mark for a playoff game (14), established by Mike Scott in Game 1 of the 1986 National League Championship Series against the New York Mets.
Houston led 2-0 when Cole departed after throwing 118 pitches. He held the Rays to just four hits and walked one batter — Willy Adames, the final one he faced. Cole’s strikeout total surpassed the 12 K’s he piled up in Game 2 of Houston’s 2018 ALDS matchup with Cleveland, his previous postseason best. According to ESPN Stats & Information research, Cole now has two of the top five strikeout games in Astros postseason history.
The Rays scraped together three singles off Cole, one each in the first, fifth and sixth, and got a double from Kevin Kiermaier in the eighth. They otherwise did not advance a runner past first base while the right-hander was on the mound. With the walk to Adames, Cole just missed breaking the MLB playoff mark for strikeouts without a walk in a playoff game, a record set by Hall of Famer Tom Seaver, who had 13 K’s without a walk for the Mets against the Cincinnati Reds in Game 1 of the 1973 NLCS.
Cole’s gem followed a similarly dominant outing from Verlander in Game 1 during a 6-2 Houston win. Verlander struck out eight and held the Rays to one hit and zero runs over seven innings and passed Roger Clemens for third on the all-time postseason strikeout list.
During two games with Houston’s co-Cy Young Award front-runners on the mound, the Rays have managed just five hits over 14⅔ scoreless innings with 23 strikeouts.
Cole, 29, went 20-5 during the regular season with an AL-best 2.50 ERA. His 326 strikeouts also led the league and were the most by a pitcher in a season since Randy Johnson struck out 334 in 2002.
Things won’t get much easier for Tampa Bay in Game 3 on Monday, when the series moves to the Tropicana Field. Houston will send former Cy Young winner Zack Greinke to the mound. The Rays will counter with former Astro Charlie Morton.