The pressure is all on Gerrit Cole now to pitch like an ace — and make this World Series really interesting
Gerrit Cole now must do the modern ace thing. He needs to take the ball on regular rest Wednesday night and get the Yankees on another business trip.
Gerrit Cole did not do the historic ace thing at this time of year and insist on taking the ball with his team facing elimination in Game 4.
Fine.
The Yankees nevertheless won Tuesday night with him as a cheerleader.
So now he must do the modern ace thing. He is fully rested. The way the Yankees imagined putting the building blocks toward a baseball miracle was winning Game 4 when the Dodgers were throwing a bullpen game and then turning to their ace to lug them cross country once more. The bottom of the Yankee order, in particular, and the length of their bullpen — co-stars, basically — were the fulcrum of an 11-4 season-saving victory Tuesday night.
“We won a game, and having, you know, the best pitcher in baseball coming up for us [Wednesday] gives us, obviously, a sense of hope to take this back to LA,” Nestor Cortes said.
In Cole’s right hand will be the Yankee season, a bit of his legacy and a chance to make a little bit of history as the Yankees attempt to make the bigger history that motivates documentaries.