Red Sox manager Alex Cora accuses Yankees ace Gerrit Cole of throwing at Rafael Devers
NEW YORK – The Red Sox-Yankees rivalry bubbled up a bit in the Bronx on Saturday as Boston manager Alex Cora accused Gerrit Cole of intentionally throwing at Rafael Devers.
The Red Sox won the game, 7-1 after back-to-back losses in the Bronx. But much of the attention following the game was on how Cole handled Devers, who entered 14 for 41 (.316) with eight home runs against Cole, including the postseason.
Alex Cora criticizes Gerrit Cole
In the first inning, Cole plunked the Red Sox slugger. Then in the fourth, Cole intentionally walked Devers with the bases empty, sparking Boston's three-run rally. That move raised some eyebrows in the Boston dugout.
Cole was eventually forced to pitch to Devers an inning later with the bases loaded. The third baseman lined a single to drive in two runs.
After the game, Cora said that in his eyes, the intentional walk proved that Cole had no intention of facing Devers. That's why he believes the hit by pitch was on purpose.
"I felt like the first at bat he hit him on purpose. He doesn't want to face him. He told us with the intentional walk that the first at bat he hit him. He hit him. We leave it at that," Cora told reporters. "After that he had bases loaded and had to face him. We took exception to that because he was loud and clear that he didn't want to face him. After the intentional walk we were like "OK, that's what happened."
Gerrit Cole hits Rafael Devers
Red Sox starter Brayan Bello opened the sixth inning with a pitch that went behind Yankees superstar Aaron Judge, though nothing developed between the two teams.
"We don't want to hit people on purpose, right? You can get hurt. Especially in the position they're in. They're 20-whatever games over. We hit somebody and somebody gets hurt and puts us in a bad spot," Cora said. "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 what he does against us. That's when our sport is at its best. Raffy got hit. They can say whatever they want. The intentional walk was loud and clear. 'I don't want to face him.' So the second pitch of the game against Raffy, you see it. It was intentional. I'm not going to back up. It was intentional."
Rafael Devers responds
Through a translator after the game, Bello said Cole's intentional walk "showed a lot of weakness."
Devers was also asked about Cole's decision to intentionally walk him.
"I feel like he caught me by surprise," Devers said through a translator. "I didn't expect that from a future Hall of Famer. I feel like, to say it some way, he panicked a little bit."
The Red Sox and Yankees wrap up their series on Sunday at 1:35 p.m. at Yankee Stadium.
