New York Yankees starting pitcher Gerrit Cole wanted no part of Boston Red Sox star Rafael Devers on Saturday.
Cole and the Yankees even went to great lengths to make sure Devers' success off Cole didn't continue. Devers entered the contest 13-for-39 (.333) lifetime against the six-time All-Star with eight home runs, the most Cole has allowed to any opponent.
Cole hadn't allowed a hit when Devers came to the plate with the bases empty in the top of the fourth inning with New York leading 1-0. Yet, Cole didn't throw Devers pitch as threw out four fingers on the mound to signal an intentional walk.
It was a bizarre move from Cole and one he explained following Boston's 7-1 win at Yankee Stadium.
"We had discussed in the days prior to and during the game strategically walking him because of the past success that he's had," Cole told reporters as seen on NESN postgame coverage.
Cole added: "We were in the tunnel before the inning and had discussed if (Jarren) Duran was retired we were going to stick to aggressively intentionally walk him and that was the plan. And during the inning, I looked to the dugout and stuck with the plan. If I make pitches after that and I continue to execute at a high level, then the plan works. But evidently the plan didn't work."
Cole lost all momentum and unraveled after his free pass to Devers, who promptly stole second base after being intentionally walked. The Red Sox got to Cole for three runs in the fourth inning and four more in the fifth to put an end to his day after 4 1/3 frames. Devers played a bigger role in the fifth when he came up to bat with the bases loaded and drove in two runs off Cole.
"Our bullpen specifically was thin and we were strategically looking for a way to get as deep into the ball game as we could knowing that we were going to pitch very carefully to Devers and potentially not really throw him any strikes," Cole said. "That's why the conversation around intentionally walking was brought up was that it might be the most efficient way to keep the line moving. But with that said, you have to execute after you do that and I didn't do that."
Cole said the decision to intentionally walk Devers wasn't solely on his shoulders, but was made in collaboration with Yankees manager Aaron Boone and pitching coach Matt Blake. But Cole wished he had that at-bat against Devers back.
"Clearly that was a mistake," Cole said. "I think I was bought into the plan going into it, but afterward it was the wrong move."
