SARASOTA, Fla. -- Jon Lester and Aaron Cook were aware that they would be pitching in the same game on Sunday. But when Cook was slated to make his first game appearance as a member of the Red Sox on the same day that Lester would be making his third start of the spring, the fact represented no more than a passing punchline.

“He told me the other day that he was coming and pitching here, and we were giving each other grief about riding the bus,” said Lester.

But there was also something distinctive about the fact that the two pitched off the same mound on the same day. After all, the two had done so only once before in their careers, in an event that represented a seminal career moment for both.

On Oct. 28, 2007, Lester and Cook started against each other in Game 4 of the World Series. Lester tossed 5 2/3 shutout innings to earn the win in the title clincher, while Cook was outstanding in defeat, logging six innings and allowing three runs while striking out two and getting 13 groundball outs, requiring just 70 pitches to work his way into the seventh inning.

While Cook lost that game, it nevertheless represents one of the cherished memories of his career.

“That was very special,” Cook said of his Game 4 appearance. “There are some great players who are in the Hall of Fame who never got to play in the World Series. It’s something that you don’t take lightly. You realize that it was a great opportunity. Even though we didn’t win, it was still something that’s very special.”

While the mound was their shared stage, the two pitchers also had shared stories of adversity that made the significance of their appearance in the same game all the greater.

Lester’s rookie season of 2006 came to a shocking halt when he was diagnosed with cancer at age 22. He completed his chemotherapy that offseason, but the loss of strength and weight made 2007 a struggle for him. But his strength and the power of his pitches increased over the course of the season, to the point where his stuff in the postseason was as good -- and perhaps better -- than it had been all year. The image of a triumphant Lester on the Coors Field mound thus carried immense power.

Cook’s story was similarly powerful. The right-hander nearly died when blood clots traveled from his shoulder to his lungs while he was pitching in a game in August 2004. It took Cook roughly a year to return to a major league game, but he did so, and emerged as an anchor of the Rockies pitching staff for years to come. That being the case, when he missed the final two months of the 2007 season as well as the first two rounds of the postseason, Cook remained positive in his efforts to return, able to put the undertaking in context.

Ultimately, the Rockies elected to add him to their roster for the World Series and give him the starting assignment opposite Lester in Game 4. The focus for both pitchers was primarily on their quest to win, but their narratives of adversity became a prevalent storyline entering the decisive contest.

“The media made more of a big deal than we probably did,” said Cook. “I imagine we probably just wanted to go out there and pitch and put that stuff behind us.”

As he prepared for the start, Lester’s awareness of Cook’s health scare was limited. It was only after the fact that he gained a true appreciation of what it meant for the right-hander to start that game opposite him.

“I’d heard [about Cook’s blood clots]. It was obviously not as publicized as my deal, but still scary,” said Lester. “I don’t know if it’s selfish, but you try to climb into your own hole, especially with something like that, and you don’t get to hear the full story until after the fact.

“It’s kind of one of those things that’s meant to be. Whatever it was, it put us in our place to tell our stories. Especially for me to get that opportunity, being a young guy and still somewhat unproven, to get that opportunity was huge. For whatever reason, it happened that way. It was cool to be a part of it with him.”

On Sunday, the thought of once again pitching in the same game for the first time since that World Series did not cross either pitcher’s mind until after the fact, though when presented with the fact that they had been paired in a box score for the second time, both pitchers were happy to enjoy the memory.

“It’s definitely a unique situation,” said Cook. “I don’t know how many times that’s actually happened, where two guys ended up matching up against each other [in a World Series clincher] and then with one guy coming in for the other.”

All the same, for both pitchers, the fond reflections on that past are now secondary to what they are trying to accomplish in 2012. Now teammates, the two are at the beginning stages of trying to make their mark on the coming season for the Red Sox.

Sunday represented modest but meaningful building blocks for each. Lester punched in for four solid innings of work in which he allowed one run on one hit. It was part of the steady buildup to what will likely be the Opening Day start in Detroit on April 5.

Cook, in his first game for the Sox, showed a version of the bread-and-butter sinker that made him the cornerstone of the Rockies rotation for so long. He does not have the same low- to mid-90s velocity that he featured in the World Series, but even at 88-91 mph, his two-seamer showed the sort of life that suggests he has the stuff to contribute to the Sox rotation at some point.

“With those two innings under his belt, the day that he’ll be ready to help us seems to be not so far away,” said Sox manager Bobby Valentine. “It seems like it will happen if he keeps throwing like that.”

If both Lester and Cook can perform as the Sox hope, then perhaps they will once again end up sharing a prominent stage in October. But for now, there was enough satisfaction in a less prominent shared setting, nearly five years removed from their shared excellence in the spotlight.