The Yankees need Gerrit Cole to be Gerrit Cole to win the World Series

NEW YORK — Will the real Gerrit Cole please stand up?

The Cole that took the mound in the first three innings of Saturday's game against the Boston Red Sox was the ace the New York Yankees need in their hunt for a championship. He blew away Boston's lineup in his first turn through the order. His fastball was electric and had excellent vertical movement. He didn't allow a hit and faced the minimum through three innings. This was the stuff of a no-hitter.

Even looking back at his past several starts since the All-Star break, that's the Cole who can propel the Yankees through October, the Cole who provides a sense of relief and firepower with everything at stake. Entering Saturday, the veteran right-hander carried a 1.58 ERA across seven starts since Aug. 4. In that month-plus, Cole came close to resembling the Cy Young award-winning pitcher he was last year, when the Yankees missed the playoffs and their opportunity to trot out one of the game's top pitchers — at his best — in October baseball.

Now, the Yankees are boasting one of their most complete teams in recent history. The roster's strengths are beginning to fall into place. Yet, there are signs that Cole is not yet where he needs to be. 

Look no further than the four fingers Cole stunningly lifted on the mound Saturday afternoon at Yankee Stadium. 

To make it painfully obvious what he was doing, Cole proceeded to wave his index finger toward first base and intentionally walked Red Sox slugger Rafael Devers with no one on base. Multiple Yankees players said they had never seen a pitcher raise four fingers and call for an intentional walk. It's almost always managers who call for the free pass from within the dugout. More than that, it was unlike Cole, whose