ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Believe it or not, Rafael Devers’ record-setting home run in the fourth inning of Monday’s win wasn’t the highlight of his night.
In Devers’ mind, the home run — his sixth in as many games, setting a franchise record — was a cool accomplishment. But it wasn’t as meaningful as a rare 6-5-3 double play the Red Sox turned in the seventh inning of a 5-0 victory.
With one out and a man on first, Josh Lowe hit a ground ball up the middle that shortstop Ceddanne Rafaela (in the shift) fielded on the second base side of the bag and shoveled to Devers, who made the turn at second base and threw to first baseman Dominic Smith to escape the inning. It was a play that doesn’t come up much in game action but is still something the Red Sox practice often. To see pregame work come to fruition in a game was especially rewarding for the third baseman.
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“They work on that every single day and it never happens,” said manager Alex Cora. “Finally, they had a chance and they turned it.”
From the outside, though, a twin killing to preserve a five-run lead won’t be nearly as memorable as the fourth-inning opposite-field shot Devers hit off righty Taj Bradley. Devers was one of seven players in Red Sox history to homer in five consecutive games. He’s the first to do it in six straight games and is two homers away from tying the all-time MLB record.
“The accomplishment is amazing, six days in a row hitting homers,” Cora said. “Shoot, I can recall how many days in a row I got hits.”
Devers’ homer streak began last week at home against the Rays, as he left Fenway Park on both Wednesday and Thursday in losses. It continued on the road in St. Louis over the weekend, as he hit blasts in two more losses Friday and Saturday before finally contributing to a win in Sunday’s finale. Monday marked Boston’s second win a row and an early offensive turnaround played a big role. Bradley struck out eight of nine batters he faced in three perfect innings before Boston’s bats got to him the second time through. Jarren Duran tripled, Wilyer Abreu doubled and Devers hit his homer to put Boston up, 3-0, in the fourth. Rafaela added a two-run shot of his own as Boston won for just the second time in 17 tries at Tropicana Field.
“We were joking in the dugout, ‘It can only get better offensively. It’s not gonna get worse, so let’s see what happens,’” Cora said. “And that happened.
“We put good at-bats from top to bottom. We put pressure on them, too. All around, one of the best games we’ve played here … It was fun. It was a well-played baseball game.
Throughout his streak, Devers has insisted that he’s not focused on homering on a daily basis and that his home runs come naturally as a product of a good approach. And even though he made history, both Devers and Cora insisted that the star’s swing is not where he wants it to be. While his plate discipline and pitch recognition have been strong, the 26-year-old doesn’t feel completely locked in at the plate. Devers’ struggles with runners in scoring position throughout the year have left him searching.
“I know it’s a huge accomplishment for me and for the organization, but I’m not the type of player to focus on the records,” Devers said through translator Carlos Villoria Benítez.
“I’ve been hitting only one hit per game and that’s not me,” he added. “I’d like to get more singles and I feel like I’m missing a lot of my pitches. For me to be myself, I need to get more hits per game instead of just one. Of course, they’re important hits, but at the same time, I’m not up there yet.”
Devers might not be satisfied with every swing he takes but he sure did like the one that resulted in the ball reaching the left-field bleachers at the Trop on Monday. He flipped his bat, leaped a bit and celebrated toward the dugout before rounding the basis.
“I don’t usually think about records in the game,” he said. “For me, it was mostly about hitting the ball well in the air with men in scoring position … For me to be able to help the team and get ahead with two runs at that point, it was a great moment.”
All eyes will be on Devers on Tuesday night as he tries to extend the streak to seven against Zack Littell, who surrendered the second blast of the streak Thursday night at Fenway. Devers said it’s in God’s hands whether or not he can make the streak a week-long feat. A teammate who had a great showing of his own Monday night is expecting the run to continue.
“He’s a freak,” said starter Tanner Houck, who tossed seven shutout innings. “That guy can hit any pitch at any time. To see what he’s done, he’s just an incredible player.”
Maybe there’s another double play to be turned, too.
“The double play for me was a very important play,” Devers said. “At the same time, we’ve been making a lot of errors. We haven’t been communicating as well. For us to make that play in that situation, it was huge.”
