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Zach Eflin was terrific in Friday night’s victory over the Nationals, punching out six batters over six innings of shutout baseball.

Advice: Eflin scattered just four hits and one walk on the night. Only once did an opposing hitter advance past second base in the game, and that was Jacob Young who advanced to third on a ground ball after his leadoff double in the third inning and was then thrown out at home on a fielder’s choice. The 30-year-old right-hander generated 11 swings and misses on 93 pitches in the ballgame — five of those on his curveball — while posting a CSW of 29 percent. Eflin will tote a 3.92 ERA, 1.12 WHIP and a 69/7 K/BB ratio (87 1/3 innings) into Thursday’s showdown against the Royals in Kansas City. Rotoworld Friday, 6:26 pm

Stone (9-2) picked up the win over the White Sox on Wednesday, allowing four hits and no walks in a complete-game shutout while striking out seven.

Advice: Stone was spectacular Wednesday, matching his season high with seven strikeouts en route to recording the first complete game of his major-league career. The right-hander retired the side in order in five of his nine frames and didn't allow a runner to reach second base outside of a leadoff double from Gavin Sheets to open the second. Stone has now won each of his last five decisions (spanning six starts) and has also posted at least six strikeouts in five of his last six outings. Furthermore, Wednesday marked the first time that he didn't walk a batter in his last five starts. Rotowire.com Thursday, 4:23 am

Cole (0-1) took the loss Tuesday as the Yankees fell 9-7 to the Mets, surrendering six runs on seven hits -- including four home runs -- and four walks over four innings. He failed to strike out a batter.

Advice: Making his second start of the season after recovering from an elbow issue, Cole simply couldn't locate his pitches as he served up four or more long balls for only the second time in his career -- the other such start came against the Twins in June 2022. The veteran right-hander did throw 72 pitches (44 strikes) Tuesday, up from 62 in his season debut as the Yankees gradually increase his workload. Cole will look to bounce back in his next outing, which lines up to come on the road this weekend in Toronto. Rotowire.com Wednesday, 5:30 am

Gerrit Cole allowed six runs on seven hits in four innings in a loss to the Mets on Tuesday.

Advice: There’s a fair amount to be concerned about here. The Yankees ace walked four and struck out nobody on the day. His fastball sat 95.4 mph on the day which was down 1.3 mph from his first start. He hit 98 mph in the first inning but by the third inning, he threw only four fastballs and just one was over 94 mph. Home runs hit by Mark Vientos and Harrison Bader were on fastballs that were 91.5 and 93.2 mph. Given that Cole’s elbow injury to start the year involved some nerve issues, there’s a concern that there remains a lingering impact on Cole’s health or performance. It could also just be one bad start, but this is the second outing of his career that he did not strike out any batters and the other was on May 20, 2016, so it’s certainly a performance we want to take note of. Rotoworld Tuesday, 7:32 pm