Additional Coverage:
- Alex Cora says Gerrit Cole hit Rafael Devers intentionally in the first inning Saturday (cbssports.com)
On Saturday, Yankees star pitcher Gerrit Cole faced a rough outing against the Red Sox, leading to a 7-1 defeat. Notably, Cole made the unusual decision to intentionally walk Red Sox third baseman Rafael Devers in the fourth inning with no runners on and one out, while the Yankees were ahead 1-0 (full story here).
Though many were puzzled by this unusual move, Red Sox manager Alex Cora offered a different perspective. He suggested that this intentional walk stemmed from an event earlier in the game when Cole hit Devers with a pitch in the first inning. According to Cora, this sequence indicated that Cole might have intentionally hit Devers to avoid facing him later, evidenced by the subsequent intentional walk.
“I felt like the first at-bat, he hit him on purpose,” Cora remarked to NESN. “He doesn’t want to face him, that’s the bottom line.
The intentional walk indicated that. We’ll leave it at that.
Later, Cole was forced to pitch to Devers with the bases loaded.”
Indeed, in Devers’ third plate appearance, with the bases loaded, Cole surrendered a two-RBI single. During Devers’ first at-bat, Cole hit him with an 0-1 cutter.
“We took exception to that because it was loud and clear that he didn’t want to face him,” Cora reiterated. “It was intentional, I’m not going to back off.”
Prior to this game, Devers was hitting .341 with a double and eight home runs against Cole, including both regular season and postseason. All eight of those home runs have come since 2021. The last time they clashed was on July 6, when Devers hit a home run in his final at-bat against Cole.