An angry Alex Cora accused Yankees right-hander Gerritt Cole of intentionally hitting Red Sox star Rafael Devers in the first inning because he didn’t want to face the slugger who has owned him throughout his career.
Cora’s reasoning was simple.
When the Yankees ace intentionally walked Devers in the fourth inning with nobody on base in a one-run game, it was clear Cole intended to avoid him.
“They can say whatever they want. The intentional walk [made it] loud and clear: ‘I don’t want to face him,’ ” Cora fumed after Boston’s 7-1 rout of the Yankees in The Bronx on Saturday. “Second pitch of the game against Rafy, you see it. It was intentional. I’m not going to back up.”
Red Sox starting pitcher Brayan Bello was even more blunt, saying Cole’s move “showed a lot of weakness.”
Cole denied throwing at Devers on purpose.
He hit him with a 91 mph cut fastball.
There was some confusion behind who ordered the intentional walk.
Cole said the reason behind it was the Yankees bullpen was thin and he wanted to avoid a marathon at-bat with Devers.
“I feel like he caught me by surprise. I didn’t expect that from a future Hall of Famer,” Devers said through an interpreter. “I feel like he panicked a little bit.”
Devers entered the game with eight home runs and 18 RBIs in 43 career at-bats against Cole, although he had struggled of late overall, without a home run since Aug. 25 and a .507 OPS in September.
Walking Devers opened the floodgates for the Red Sox, who went on to score three runs in the fourth and four more in the fifth against Cole before he was lifted with one out in the frame.
The fourth-inning rally started with Devers stealing second base, just his third of the season.
Prior to the walk, Cole had retired nine of the first 10 batters he had faced.
After the walk, he fell apart. That included a two-run Devers single with the bases loaded in the fifth.
“It feels good. That’s what I’m trying to do every time I go up to the plate,” Devers said. “I tried to get some hits, and today was a big two-run hit. It’s very huge to help the team against one of the best pitchers in the league.”
As for whether Cole hit him on purpose in the first inning, Devers was uncertain.
He called it “old school” baseball, which the infielder is fond of.
His manager seemed much more upset about it.
“I mean, we don’t want to hit people on purpose, right? He can get hurt,” Cora said. “Especially the position they’re in, right? Twenty-three games over [.500], we hit somebody and somebody gets hurt, and it puts [them] in a bad spot. We want the best players to be playing every single day out there. I want Aaron Judge to be out there every single day, regardless of how he does against us. That’s where our sport is at its best.”
The Red Sox manager added: “He’s one of the best pitchers on the planet. He is. He has gotten him out. He has struck him out. Gerrit Cole, I always talk about him as one of the best on the planet. He decided not to face him today.”
