I have not seen Yankees Aaron Boone‘s explanation of the intentional walk (IBB) to Rafael Devers of the Red Sox. The two out pass led to three runs against Gerrit Cole in a game the Red Sox won 7-1. This tidbit I did find interesting:

Cole’s intentional walk was the pitcher’s first since he was with Pittsburgh and put on Milwaukee’s Travis Shaw with runners on second and third in the third inning of a 2-2 game on Sept. 12, 2017.

Chron.com

On reason Cole hasn’t issued any walks is that since 2018 he played for he two teams least likely to issue an intentional walk. The Astros put 37 men on intentionally in the last seven seasons, the Yankees 59, including today. The next nearest team is Detroit with 84, and I’m pretty sure former Astros manager A.J. Hinch has something to do with that. With more former Astros in Baltimore, they are fourth with 87. Then it’s a more normal progression from the Twins at 101.

That makes the IBB all the more improbable, since the Yankees seem to follow the Astros doctrine of not issuing IBBs. The story gives some reasons why the Yankees did this, but none of them seems that strong.