SAN DIEGO - Sunday’s finale at Petco Park comes with more than a series on the line for the Yankees. Gerrit Cole is one win away from standing alone in a piece of MLB Draft history, and the man trying to stop him is a familiar face.
New York and San Diego split the first two games of the set. The Padres opened with a 3-2 win in 10 innings on Friday, then the Yankees answered Saturday with a 5-1 victory powered by a four-run second inning and five solid innings from Carlos Rodón. Rodón got the win; Robbie Ray took the loss.
Now it’s Cole against Michael King, with first pitch set for 4:10 p.m. ET.
The Yankees come in at 81-61, four games behind Tampa Bay in the AL East and holding the American League’s top wild-card spot. San Diego sits at 74-68 and still trying to stay in the National League race.
Cole has been rolling for a while. He is 8-7 with a 3.29 ERA, 110 strikeouts and a 1.11 WHIP in 104 innings, and MLB’s game preview says he has given up three runs or fewer in 11 straight starts, with a 2.85 ERA over that stretch. His last outing came Tuesday in Anaheim, where he went 5 1/3 innings and picked up the win in a 7-3 Yankees victory.
King has been sharp, too. He is 9-9 with a 3.11 ERA, 141 strikeouts and a 1.17 WHIP across 162 innings, and he hasn’t allowed a run in his last two starts.
In eight of his past 11 outings, he has given up no more than two earned runs. His most recent start was six scoreless innings against Cincinnati.
For the Yankees, the equation is straightforward: win the game, win the series, and head back to Yankee Stadium with the road trip still looking productive. Lose, and a trip that has shown promise ends with another missed opportunity in a tightening postseason race.
Cole’s bigger chase, though, is about history. He enters Sunday with 161 career wins, tied with Mike Moore for the most by any pitcher selected No. 1 overall in the MLB Draft.
Moore went first to Seattle in 1981, while Cole was the top pick by Pittsburgh in 2011 after starring at UCLA. David Price, the No. 1 selection in 2007, finished with 157 wins, according to MLB’s historical draft records.
One more victory would give Cole 162 and the record outright. He tied Moore on Sept. 1 against the Los Angeles Angels, improving to 161-87 for his career.
That milestone would add another line to a résumé that already includes the 2023 American League Cy Young Award, six All-Star nods and more than 2,300 strikeouts. It would also come in the same season he returned from Tommy John surgery after missing all of 2025.
The numbers behind the tie make Cole’s path look even different from Moore’s. MLB’s player records list Cole at 2,058 career innings entering Sunday, while Moore finished at 2,831 2/3.
Cole got to 161 wins in 773 2/3 fewer innings and in 335 starts, compared with Moore’s 440. His 161-87 record also gives him a .649 winning percentage, well above Moore’s 161-176 mark and .478 percentage.
King brings his own Yankees connection to the matchup. He spent parts of five seasons in New York and was part of the December 2023 blockbuster that sent Juan Soto and Trent Grisham to the Bronx. The Padres received King, Kyle Higashioka, Jhony Brito, Randy Vásquez and Drew Thorpe in that deal, and King has since settled in as a full-time starter.
Sunday will be his second career start against the Yankees since the trade. He faced them on May 6, 2025, and allowed two earned runs over six innings. He also has a heavier workload this season than Cole, with 162 innings to Cole’s 104, though Cole did not return to the Yankees rotation until May 22 after his long rehab from elbow surgery.
The rubber game gives both pitchers something to chase, just in very different ways. King can spoil the record bid and hand the Yankees a series loss. Cole can beat an old teammate, secure the set for New York and leave Petco Park with a draft-era distinction no other No. 1 pick pitcher has claimed alone.
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