Well, this was bizarre.
With one out and nobody on base in the fourth inning, the Yankees chose to intentionally walk the struggling Rafael Devers — and it backfired.
Gerrit Cole appeared to make the decision to intentionally walk Rafael Devers with the bases empty.
He held the Red Sox hitless through the first 3.1 innings and the only baserunner was a Devers hit-by-pitch in the first inning. pic.twitter.com/RWG4CzsxqP
— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) September 14, 2024
After Gerrit Cole put the Red Sox slugger on base, Devers stole second, and a three-run rally began.
Cole walked Tyler O’Neill, allowed a run-scoring double to Masataka Yoshida and a two-run single to Wilyer Abreu.
Prior to the Devers walk, Cole had retired nine of the first 10 batters he had faced.
Devers has historically crushed Cole and the Yankees — he has eight homers and 18 RBIs in 43 plate appearances against the reigning American League Cy Young award winner — but he has been slumping.
He hasn’t homered since Aug. 25 and has an OPS of .507 in September.
Cole hit Devers with a pitch in his first at-bat.
An inning later, Cole couldn’t walk Devers, who strode to the plate with a base loaded, and the All-Star blasted a two-run single to right-center field, making it 5-1 in favor of Boston.
