Gerrit Cole starts Wednesday's Game 5 with the Yankees' 2024 campaign on the line once again after Tuesday's 11-4 Game 4 win over the Dodgers, but New York is confident behind its ace as it seeks another World Series victory and climbs out of the 3-1 deficit against Los Angeles.
"Having the ace on the mound for another must-win game -- if you don't have all the confidence in the world, I don't know what you're going to have," said Austin Wells. "We have a lot of confidence in him to be able to go out tomorrow, give us a quality start and put us in a good position to win the game. We'll see what happens."
Cole is 1-0 with a 2.82 ERA and 1.30 WHIP in four postseason starts. Game 1, the 6-3 loss in 10 innings this past Friday at the Dodgers, saw Cole yield one run on four hits while striking out four over six frames.
"Every time G goes out there, we feel like we're in a great spot," said Jazz Chisholm Jr. "He's like the best pitcher in the world. You see him out there, his dominance, the way he's on the field, how intense he is, the way he goes about his business is great. So I think we have a great chance every time he steps on the field."
As the rest of the team tries to do its part after it came up short in the first three losses, the one-game-at-a-time perspective starts with Cole versus Jack Flaherty.
"We're in a good spot," said Alex Verdugo. "That's our ace. We like our chances with him up there. It'll be our second time seeing Flaherty. There's going to be no easy games here, but we like that matchup and we've just got to go out there and handle business."