KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Gerrit Cole was tasked with leading his team further into the postseason, and he certainly rose to the occasion.

After a challenging performance in Game 1, Cole threw seven impressive innings during Game 4 on Thursday evening, helping the Yankees secure a 3-1 win over the Kansas City Royals and clinch the AL Division Series in a best-of-five format.

The Yankees made their mark with key RBI singles from Juan Soto, Gleyber Torres, and Giancarlo Stanton, the first two of which came off Royals starting pitcher Michael Wacha, enabling them to move forward to the AL Championship Series.

They will await their next challenger, either Cleveland or Detroit, with Game 1 scheduled for Monday night at Yankee Stadium.

This year, the Yankees’ bullpen is performing exceptionally well, and Clay Holmes and Luke Weaver showed just that by closing out the game with six clean outs.

At one point during Thursday’s game, it felt reminiscent of the intense Yankees-Royals playoff clashes from the 1970s.

Although it didn’t reach the absurdity of Graig Nettles confronting George Brett or Willie Randolph dodging a harsh slide by Hal McRae, tensions were definitely present.

With the Yankees leading 3-0 in the sixth inning, a play unfolded where Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe inadvertently hit Maikel Garcia in the throat with his arm while attempting to execute a double play tag.

Volpe immediately signaled an apology, tapping Garcia on the back, but soon after, players from both teams rushed onto the field.

Calm was restored fairly quickly, and the Royals managed to score with a double from Vinnie Pasquantino.

In the seventh inning, Cole faced another nerve-wracking moment when a potential two-run homer by Kyle Isbel was caught by Juan Soto at the right field wall.