NEW YORK -- Pitching victories hardly seem valued as highly as they once were, though don¡¯t tell that to Gerrit Cole, one of the last old-school workhorses still toiling across the Major Leagues. The right-hander registered his 150th career win on Thursday afternoon, a statistic he finds significant.

Supported by Aaron Judge¡¯s Major League-leading 48th homer and a three-run blast by Giancarlo Stanton, Cole spun six scoreless innings, combining with three relievers on a one-hit shutout as the Yankees defeated the Guardians, 6-0, at Yankee Stadium.

¡°I grew up when they were widely viewed as important by everybody,¡± Cole said. ¡°To me, it¡¯s one of the stats that everyone has a hand in. It¡¯s really about your teammates and how often you take the field and play well together.¡±

Cole joined Justin Verlander (260), Max Scherzer (216) and Clayton Kershaw (212) as the only active pitchers with at least 150 wins.

Tim Hill, Luke Weaver and Michael Tonkin polished off the Yanks¡¯ 10th shutout of the season, with the one-hitter representing the club¡¯s fewest hits allowed since Domingo Germ¨¢n¡¯s perfect game on June 28, 2023.

¡°Start with Gerrit; 150 wins in the big leagues is a pretty cool number, and a Hall of Fame track,¡± manager Aaron Boone said. ¡°I feel like we¡¯ve really thrown the ball well as a group. There have been a couple of tough losses in there around us throwing the ball well, but today was more of that. All four guys were really in control.¡±

Since receiving 10 days of rest following a July 24 clunker against the Mets to address what the Yankees described as general body fatigue, Cole has pitched well, improving to 2-0 with a 1.17 ERA (three earned runs in 23 innings) over his past four starts since Aug. 4.

¡°He looked great, and I think he¡¯s been feeling good the last few starts,¡± Stanton said.

Though Cole¡¯s command wasn¡¯t razor-sharp -- he issued five walks on an afternoon that included a disputed pitch clock violation to begin the second inning -- he struck out two and kept the Guardians out of the hit column after Steven Kwan¡¯s leadoff single.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, it was the first time in team history that the Yankees allowed a hit to the first batter and none the rest of the game.

¡°All wins are great, and they come in different ways,¡± Cole said. ¡°This [Cleveland] offense is tremendous at putting the ball in play, and they all hit for high batting averages with power in the middle of the lineup.

¡°Going into this game, you don¡¯t really expect to rack up strikeouts. Their objective is to get hits, and they¡¯re really good at it, which is why they lead their division. In that sense, you have to meet the demands of the game, and when you do that, you¡¯re excited every time.¡±

Thursday¡¯s victory secured a series win for the Bombers, who bounced back from a sloppy 12-inning loss in Tuesday¡¯s opener against Cleveland, and also held meaning beyond the back of Cole¡¯s baseball card.

With the victory, the Yankees (75-53) clinched a head-to-head tiebreaker over Cleveland (73-54) should the teams finish with identical records as division winners.

The Yanks have won 22 of 28 games against the AL Central, the best record of any team against one division this season.

¡°It was big to get that series,¡± Stanton said. ¡°Every series is going to be big the rest of the way.¡±

Judge¡¯s fourth homer in three contests opened the scoring in the fourth inning, an opposite-field blast off Gavin Williams. The American League¡¯s frontrunner for the Most Valuable Player award, Judge is nearly on pace for 61 homers.

Austin Wells lifted a fifth-inning sacrifice fly before Stanton dug out a slider to deposit his 21st homer of the year over the center-field wall. Judge and Stanton have homered in the same game 45 times (including four postseason contests), and the Yankees are 41-4 in those situations.

¡°It¡¯s huge. When G is G, things are going to happen,¡± Judge said. ¡°He¡¯s been swinging the bat well, and he comes up big in clutch moments like that -- a couple of walks in front of him and then he takes care of business. We¡¯re going to need him down the stretch, that¡¯s for sure.¡±