SAN DIEGO – It turned out to be a case of wishful considering for Xander Bogaerts, who spoke about enjoying towards Rafael Devers for the primary time a few hours earlier than Friday evening’s recreation.
“Hopefully he [doesn’t] hit [any] homers,” stated Bogaerts. “Listen, that’s a dangerous guy, you know, especially when he’s in that box. He’s truly one of a kind and hopefully he takes it a little light on us because he can do damage.”
Light? Devers selected heavy.
Boston’s left-handed-hitting masher hammered two homers and drove in 4, main the Red Sox to a 6-1 victory over the Padres at Petco Park.
“Yeah, I was very happy today that I was able to hit two home runs, but this is baseball,” Devers stated. “You have to take it day by day, and you have to keep making adjustments every day.”
Devers, the star the Red Sox prolonged for 11 years in January after being unable to search out frequent floor with Bogaerts a month earlier, put his imprint on this three-game collection early.
It was talked about to Bogaerts earlier than the sport that the Red Sox are actually Devers’ workforce.
“It is [his team],” Bogaerts stated. “And I think he’s the perfect guy, perfect person for that. He’s very dangerous when he’s up there, and obviously we know his defense is getting better every year and he wants to improve. But his bat will make you pay big time.”
When these feedback had been relayed to Devers, a smile got here throughout his face.
“Yeah, it makes me very happy to hear that he says those things about me and even more when we’re such good friends,” Devers stated. “And it means so much to me, these phrases popping out of his mouth due to what he’s represented for this group and what he means [to] me. “
It was Devers who opened the scoring within the prime of the second inning, when he ripped a solo shot to proper towards Blake Snell.
An inning later, Devers roped a towering, three-run shot to heart (No. 13 on the season) that landed on some shrubbery. His second homer towards Snell was drilled at an exit velocity of 109.4 mph and a Statcast-projected distance of 435 toes.
“He’s awesome. His swing is just amazing,” stated Red Sox lefty James Paxton, who earned his first win since Aug. 15, 2020. “He’s so good on offense and does a great job at third base, too, He’s just an all-around, fantastic player. Fun to watch.”
Bogaerts might solely watch in frustration as his workforce (20-25) misplaced for the third straight time and tenth within the final 12 video games. Meanwhile, the Red Sox (25-20) have emerged properly from a current skid to win their final three video games.
For the Red Sox, the thrilling factor is that Devers hasn’t gotten red-hot simply but. The two-time All-Star has a slash line of .264/.309/.557 with 13 homers and 44 RBIs.
Does Devers really feel like he’s beginning to get sizzling?
“Right now I feel comfortable at the plate and I feel very good, but we need to see what’s going to happen in the next few games,” Devers stated.
While Devers took heart stage, Paxton fired six robust innings (5 hits, one run, 5 strikeouts) for Boston. The “Big Maple” has been robust in his first two begins off the injured listing.
“For him to come here and contribute and get that ‘W’ is big for the organization,” stated Red Sox supervisor Alex Cora. “The people in Fort Myers, all the trainers, the strength coaches, everybody has been with him through the same process. He opted in [with his contract]. Nobody thought that was going to happen. He decided to stay here because he trusted the process. He trusted the people here and they got rewarded.”
And as soon as once more, the Red Sox obtained rewarded by having Devers because the centerpiece of their lineup.
“That’s a bad man,” Bogaerts stated.
Content Source: www.mlb.com