Rafael Devers owns Gerrit Cole.
The Red Sox’ star third baseman took Cole deep twice Thursday in Boston’s 6-5 loss to the Yankees at Fenway Park, accounting for all of the Sox’ runs. Devers blasted a two-run homer in the third inning and followed that up with a three-run bomb in the fifth. He’s now 6-for-23 in his career against Cole with six home runs and 19 RBI.
After the game, Cole expressed dismay at Devers’ greatness.
“He’s just been able to hit everything. I mean, there just hasn’t been a mishit,” Cole told reporters. “Roll over one time. Line out one time. I mean, you’re supposed to fail seven out of 10 times in this gig. I don’t know what the deal is.
"I'm open to suggestions."
Despite Cole’s befuddlement, the explanation might not be any more complicated than Devers’ greatness. He’s slashing an astounding .330/.387/.598 this season with 19 home runs and a league-leading 27 doubles.
Cole struggles overall against the Red Sox, posting a 5.85 ERA in eight career starts at Fenway, including last year’s Wild Card Game, in which he only lasted two innings.
Not bad for $324 million, huh?
There’s little doubt the 60-23 Yankees are going to win the AL East, considering their closest division rival, the Rays, are 14.5 games out of first place. But if the Red Sox draw the Yankees in the playoffs, they might not be so frightened, especially if Cole starts Game 1.
The Yankees’ bullpen shut down the Red Sox Thursday, as they were unable to mount any sort of offense over the game’s final three innings. Wandy Peralta, Michael King and Clay Holmes make a fraction of Cole’s yearly salary.
But at least they can get Devers out … sometimes.
