The New York Yankees defeated the Cleveland Guardians 4-1 at Yankee Stadium on Friday night. Shutting down the Guardians' red hot offense has been a challenge for opposing pitching staffs as of late, but Yankees' reliever Michael King made it look rather easy. King entered a close ballgame and went on spin three scoreless innings of relief. He struck out eight Guardians hitters in the performance. He became the third Yankees pitcher in franchise history to strikeout 8 or more hitters in 3 innings out of the bullpen.

His outing drew notable reactions from both Aaron Boone and Terry Francona.

Aaron Boone broke down why he felt King found success against Cleveland.

“He’s got all the pitches. He’s worked hard in his craft and he walks out there with a lot of confidence. When you’ve got that kind of arsenal — if he’s pounding the strike zone, he’s capable of performances like that.”

Terry Francona was impressed to say the least.

“If you’re on their side, I can see why they’re excited. That’s pretty good stuff in three innings. That was impressive.”

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Michael King struck out 7 batters in a row at one point. He ended up coming just short of the Yankees franchise record for most consecutive strikeouts of 8. Nonetheless, it is safe to say that King was happy with the performance.

He joked about the franchise record after the game.

“I had no idea I had seven in a row. Come on, Boonie! No, I’ll take my three innings and bounce.”

The Yankees will aim to make it two in a row over the Guardians on Saturday while Cleveland will look to steal a road victory.