Gerrit Cole didn’t want any part of Rafael Devers on Saturday, which wound up costing him and the New York Yankees in a 7-1 loss to the Boston Red Sox.
Cole, who had also plunked Devers earlier in the game, intentionally walked the slugging third baseman with nobody on and one out in the fourth inning of a no-hitter.
Devers wound up stealing second base and coming around to score the tying run.
Cole’s decision to grant a free base to Devers drew criticism from multiple sources, including Red Sox manager Alex Cora and pitcher Brayan Bello.
“It was intentional. He didn’t want to face him,” Cora said, noting that the previous at-bat ended in a HBP, according to The Boston Globe’s Julian McWilliams.
Bello, who started opposite Cole on Saturday, also called his counterpart weak for hitting Devers and issuing him an intentional walk.
“I don’t know what to tell you. (Cole) showed a lot of weakness with that move,” Bello said, according to McWilliams.
Yankees manager Aaron Boone admitted postgame that New York had a game plan to intentionally walk Devers in certain situations but preferred that Cole didn’t do it at that point.
“I should have been more demanding, like, let’s get after him right now,” Boone said, according to MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch.
Cole acknowledged postgame that issuing the free pass was a mistake.
“Looking back, it’s the wrong move,” Cole said, according to Chris Kirschner of The Athletic.
Cole recently admitted on Hispanic Heritage Day that the Red Sox third baseman is the Latin hitter who he has the most trouble getting out.
The former Cy Young winner completely unraveled after the intentional pass and was removed from the game in the fifth inning after allowing seven earned runs on five hits, three walks, and three hit batters.
One of those hits was courtesy of Devers, who laced a two-RBI single into the right-field gap off Cole in the fifth.
Devers entered Saturday’s game hitting .341/.438/.951 with eight home runs and 19 RBIs against Cole in 41 career at-bats.
