The conversation lasted barely longer than a breath. Yankees manager Aaron Boone had just climbed off the bus to Petco Park for Game 4 of the American League Division Series and was settling into his office when his ace, Gerrit Cole, strode by.
“Hey,” Boone began.
“Give me the ball,” said Cole.
Both men say that although they pictured it separately, this was the first time they discussed the possibility that Cole might start Thursday’s Game 5 on short rest. “Nobody needed to tell me that,” Cole said.
Nobody needed to tell the rest of the Yankees, either.