Gerrit Cole admitted erring when he intentionally walked Rafael Devers with no one on in the fourth, sparking a three-run fourth inning for Boston that the Yankees never recovered from.
Gerrit Cole stuck out four fingers on his pitching hand, then pointed toward first base as Rafael Devers looked on incredulously. Having held the first 10 Red Sox batters hitless, the New York Yankees ace handed Boston’s slumping star an intentional walk with no one on base.
Boston then walked all over Cole and the Yankees.
Devers scored in a three-run fourth inning and hit a two-run single in a four-run fifth that rallied the Red Sox over New York 7-1 on Saturday.
“They grabbed the momentum. It inspired them”, Cole said. “I think, looking back, it’s the wrong move.”
Yankees manager Aaron Boone said he and Cole discussed in the leadup to the game being more aggressive in the use of intentional walks — Cole hadn’t issued one in seven years. Cole said he talked out the possibility with pitching coach Matt Blake while in the tunnel before the fourth inning, viewing it as a way to get the starter deeper into the game on a day when the Yankees’ bullpen was thin.
Yankees catcher Austin Wells wasn’t made aware of the plan.
“I was a bit caught off guard”, he said. “Thought he had some good momentum.”
Wells didn’t think about trying to get Cole to reverse his decision.
“We’re just kidding. We don’t actually walk him”, Wells proposed. “I don’t know if that’s a thing.”
Cole and Boone both took an unusually long time before speaking with reporters after the game.
“Just a rough day”, Cole said.
Cole (6-5) allowed seven runs, his most since June 9, 2022.
