How Red Sox Star Rafael Devers Felt About Gerrit Cole Situation
Rafael Devers felt New York Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole "panicked" on the mound Saturday and that sure benefitted the Boston Red Sox.
Cole cruised through the Red Sox lineup until he issued an intentional walk to Devers, who came into the contest batting .333 (13-for-39) with eight home runs off the right-hander in his career, with the bases empty in the top of the fourth inning.
That bizarre decision opened the floodgates for Boston, which tagged Cole for three runs in the fourth and four more runs in the fifth to take a 7-1 win at Yankee Stadium.
It seemed like everyone had a reaction to Cole's decision to not compete against Devers. Devers sure was surprised, but also thankful for Cole for helping jumpstart the Red Sox offense.
"I never expected that from him," Devers told reporters through translator Carlos Villoria Benitez, per MassLive's Chris Cotillo. "He's a Hall of Famer and we know the type of pitcher that he is. I never expected that from him but at the same time, it gave us the chance to score some runs."
Devers played a bigger role in the offensive outburst than just taking his base after the free pass. He got up against Cole again in the fifth and this time the right-hander couldn't intentionally walk the Red Sox slugger since the bases were loaded. Devers made Cole pay with a two-run single.
Devers also had a controversial at-bat against Cole in the top of the first inning. Cole plunked Devers with a 91 mph cutter.
Red Sox skipper Alex Cora believed Cole hit Devers on purpose, something the six-time All-Star and Yankees manager Aaron Boone refuted. Devers didn't share the same outrage Cora had for Cole as there's a mutual respect between the two players. Cole said earlier this week that Devers was the Latin hitter that gave him the most trouble in his career.
"Only he knows what happened out there," Devers said, per The Boston Globe's Julian McWilliams. "I just go out there and try to do the best I can. But at the same time, I also know how he feels about me and that's something that makes me proud and happy."