Cole’s Intentional Walk to Devers After Hitting Him Sparks Red Sox

NEW YORK (AP) — In a surprising move during Saturday’s game, Gerrit Cole of the New York Yankees displayed an unusual strategy. After keeping the Boston Red Sox hitless for the first three innings, Cole intentionally walked Rafael Devers, despite having no runners on base. Devers’ response was one of disbelief as he watched the ace point towards first base, setting the stage for a significant turnaround.

Following the intentional walk, the Red Sox capitalized on the moment, delivering a decisive performance over the Yankees, ending the game with a score of 7-1.

“They grabbed the momentum. It inspired them,” Cole reflected after the game. He admitted that revisiting that decision might reveal it was a misstep.

Before the match, Yankees manager Aaron Boone and Cole had discussed becoming more aggressive with intentional walks, a tactic Cole hadn’t employed in nearly seven years. Cole noted that he considered the choice after consulting with pitching coach Matt Blake, viewing it as a way to assist him in pitching deeper into the game due to a depleted bullpen.

However, catcher Austin Wells was not informed of this plan. “I was a bit caught off guard,” he shared, adding he was surprised by the decision given Cole’s early momentum on the mound.

Furthermore, Wells joked about attempting to convince Cole to reverse the decision, saying, “We’re just kidding. We don’t actually walk him.”

After the game, both Cole and Boone took longer than usual to face reporters, a sign of their frustration. Cole expressed his feelings succinctly, stating, “Just a rough day.” He concluded the outing after 4.1 innings, allowing seven runs and hitting a career-high three batters in a single game.

Devers was equally baffled by the intentional walk. Through a translator, he mentioned, “I didn’t expect that from a future Hall of Famer,” suggesting that Cole may have panicked in the moment.

Initially, Cole had dominated the first ten Red Sox batters, conceding only a hit by plunking Devers earlier in the game. Red Sox manager Alex Cora commented, “He doesn’t want to face him. That’s the bottom line,” highlighting a possible hesitation on Cole’s part.

At the point of the intentional walk, the Yankees led 1-0, bolstered by Gleyber Torres’ third-inning RBI single. Boone commented about his disappointment with the communication regarding the strategy, stating, “Once we scored the run my preference would have been let’s attack them.”

Starting from the intentional walk, Cole struggled, as ten out of the next twelve batters reached base against the pitcher regarded as the 2023 AL Cy Young Award favorite.

Triston Casas of the Red Sox described Cole’s decision as “odd.” He analyzed Devers’ strong performance against Cole throughout his career, noting that the third baseman entered the game with a solid .316 batting average against him, including eight home runs in their matchups combined.

After Devers stole second, Masataka Yoshida’s opposite-field double tied the game, and soon after, Wilyer Abreu’s two-run single gave Boston a 3-1 lead.

Cole felt the intention behind the walk was to set a plan for the game. “If I make pitches after that and I continue to execute at a high level, then the plan works,” he noted, but acknowledged, “evidently, the plan didn’t work.”

Historically, the Yankees have rarely attempted bases-empty intentional walks, with the last recorded case dating back to 1930 and 1970.

The Red Sox continued to capitalize on their newfound momentum in the fifth inning. Trevor Story led off with a single and successfully stole second, before the bases filled up. It was Devers who struck again with a two-run single, followed by another hit that drove Cole from the mound.

Boone expressed regret over the day’s decisions after realizing the walk strategy did not pay off, stating, “Obviously, because it backfired a little bit I think we all wish we could go the other way on certain things.” However, he emphasized that ultimately, it was the failure to execute pitches during key moments that led to the team’s downfall.