The afternoon turned grayer and chillier at Yankee Stadium, but the kid kept swinging, kept extending batting practice by one more session. Swing after gorgeous swing, the batter kept socking baseballs over the right field fence and kept smiling and begging for more pitches. He wanted to keep another day of baseball alive.

The player was Robinson Cano. The scene unfolded during Sunday’s workout at the Stadium. After almost all of the Yankees returned to the clubhouse, Cano wanted to keep playing, so Kevin Long, the batting coach, parked himself behind a screen for the famous Home Run Drill and flipped dozens of underhanded pitches to Cano.

Cano got to keep playing. That is what the Yankees are trying to do in the American League Championship Series right now: keep playing. They are