We knew it may come down to the performance in this very series, and Gerrit Cole may have just left the door open for Robbie Ray to lock down the Cy Young award on Thursday.
Ray will make his final start of what has been a career year for the 29 year old, and one worthy of winning the American League’s top honour for pitching performance. He’s made 31 starts and posted a 2.68 ERA and a 1.04 WHIP across 188.0 innings, striking out 244 in the process. As of this writing on Wednesday evening (after Cole’s start), Ray is still leading the AL in ERA, WHIP, strikeouts, and opponent’s batting average, and if he throws more than 4.