New York Yankees ace Gerrit Cole joked that Boston Red Sox All-Star Rafael Devers was his kryptonite, and the pitcher-slugger head-to-head numbers say so, too.
But the Red Sox didn’t expect Cole, who was distributing balls early Saturday afternoon, to hold up four fingers when Devers stepped into the box for his second at-bat, signaling an intentional walk.
The Red Sox would crush Cole in that inning and knock him out shortly after, and they made no secret of their feelings for the right-handed pitcher’s gesture of giving Devers a free pass.
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New York manager Aaron Boone takes the ball from starting pitcher Gerrit Cole during a pitching change in the fifth inning against the Boston Red Sox at Yankee Stadium. (Images by Brad Penner-Imagn)
“I feel like he showed a lot of weakness in that move,” Boston starter Brayan Bello said through translator Carlos Villoria Benitez after the Sox’ 7-1 victory.
Devers himself added through Benitez: “He took me by surprise. I didn’t expect that from a future Hall of Famer, and I think he panicked a little bit.”
Red Sox manager Alex Cora even believes Cole deliberately hit Devers in his first at-bat.
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“He doesn’t want to face him. That’s the problem,” Cora said via ESPN. “He told us he intentionally walked him in his first at-bat.”
At the time of the intentional walk, the Yankees led 1-0 after Gleyber Torres singled to score a run the previous inning. But in the top of the fourth inning, Cole went off the rails.
Cole, whose only runner in the game before the one-out walk was Devers on the hit, saw 10 of the next 12 batters reach base and the runs began to flow. It started with Masataka Yoshida’s double that scored Devers — Cole’s first hit of the game — and Wilyer Abreu singled in his next at-bat to bring in two more.
The Red Sox scored four more runs against Cole in the top of the fifth inning, where the Yankees simply saw a lack of confidence and control from their ace. Cole struck out a career-high three batters and allowed the most runs in a single outing since June 9, 2022.
Devers got his revenge on Cole, bringing in two runners in that inning with a rope to right-center field. With the bases loaded at the time, Cole had to throw to Devers, who waited on a hanging curve and sent the ball flying into the outfield.
“It was just a tough day,” Cole said after the game.
Boston Red Sox third baseman Rafael Devers follows up with a two-run single against New York at Yankee Stadium. (Images by Brad Penner-Imagn)
“They took the momentum. It inspired them,” Cole added of the intentional pass to Devers. “I think, in hindsight, it was a bad call.”
Of course, Yankees manager Aaron Boone was asked what prompted Cole to intentionally walk Devers with one out and no one on base in an outing he appeared to have in mind. Boone said he and Cole discussed the possibility of intentional walks before the game, even though the right-hander hadn’t issued one to a batter in seven years.
However, Cole entered the clubhouse tunnel before the fourth inning where he spoke with pitching coach Matt Blake about the intentional walk with Devers coming on.
“I was a little caught off guard,” Cole receiver Austin Wells said. “I thought he had good momentum.”
Boone added: “Once we got the point, my preference would have been to attack them. But obviously I didn’t communicate that well enough.”
Regardless, the Red Sox, who had seen Aaron Judge crush a game-tying grand slam the night before in a 5-4 loss at Yankee Stadium, needed momentum if they were to keep their postseason dreams alive.
New York Yankees starting pitcher Gerrit Cole reacts against the Boston Red Sox. (Images by Brad Penner-Imagn)
With the Yankees battling for the American League East title with the Baltimore Orioles, the Red Sox are hoping to sneak into the playoffs by holding one of the three wild-card spots in the American League. Yesterday’s win brought them within 3.5 games of that final spot, currently held by the Minnesota Twins.
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The Detroit Tigers and Seattle Mariners both have a one-game lead over Boston in the standings.
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