Aaron Boone defends Alex Cora's remarks on Gerrit Cole - Rafael Devers drama during Red Sox's 7-1 rout of Yankees
Gerrit Cole is widely considered one of the best starting pitchers of his generation. The reigning American League Cy Young Award winner has made a living by racking up strikeout after strikeout and keeping batters off the bases. This is true for nearly every player in the MLB, except for one: Rafael Devers.
The Boston Red Sox third baseman has enjoyed tremendous success against the New York Yankees starter throughout his career. Over the course of 40 at-bats, Rafael Devers has posted a .350 batting average with 8 home runs and a 1.410 OPS.
This rivalry came to the forefront on Saturday as Cole not only hit Devers with a pitch, but would intentionally walk him in the following at-bat. Following the game, Red Sox manager Alex Cora made his feelings clear regarding the drama that took place between Cole and Devers.
“I felt like the first at-bat he hit him on purpose, He doesn’t want to face him. That’s the bottom line," Alex Cora said of Cole's performance against Devers.
On Tuesday's episode of Talkin' Yanks, New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone addressed the situation between Cole and Devers, as well as touching on Cora's comments.
"I think Alex is using it as a little bit of a rallying cry for his team in the moment [16:47]," Boone said of Cora's comments.
Although there was likely some frustration buried inside, Boone was rather supportive of Cora's remarks, explaining how the Red Sox are fighting for their playoff lives and how he understands where Cora is coming from.
"Trying to light that little fire as they are kinda fighting for their playoff lives too and tried to probably use it as a little bit of a motivating factor, a little gamesmanship [16:50]," Boone continued.
Gerrit Cole's decision to intentionally walk Rafael Devers with the bases empty came as a surprise to nearly everyone
Even though Devers has gotten the better of Cole throughout their careers, the Yankees ace was rolling up until that point of the game. Prior to the intentional walk, Devers' hit-by-pitch was the only baserunner of the game to that point, which added to the confusion of the situation.
Even Devers seemed surprised by the decision, saying through his translator that he, “Didn’t expect that from a future Hall of Famer and I feel like he panicked a little bit.”
It remains to be seen what will happen in the future between Gerrit Cole and Rafael Devers, however, it's clear at this point that the advantage belongs to the Boston Red Sox star.