Gerrit Cole employed a strange strategy against the Boston Red Sox in the fourth inning of the series where the New York Yankees were expected to be the favorites. He intentionally walked Rafael Devers, signaling with four fingers—an unusual move given that there were no runners on base and only one out.
However, there was a plan behind this free pass to Devers, which Cole revealed had been discussed in the tunnel before the inning began. “During the inning, I looked to the dugout and stuck with the plan,” Cole said. “The plan was discussed with myself and the pitching coach, and those discussions also involved Aaron Boone before the game.”
When asked by another reporter why he didn’t pitch to Rafael Devers and opted to walk him, Cole explained that he chose to adhere to the strategy discussed in the bullpen. He and the New York Yankees didn’t want to take risks by throwing strikes to Devers.
“We were strategically looking for a way to get as deep into the game as possible, knowing we would pitch very carefully to Devers and potentially not throw him any strikes. That’s why the conversation about intentionally walking him came up—it was the most efficient way to keep the line moving.”
Yankees Lose the Game
The strategy ultimately backfired as Devers took advantage of his walk to score a run. The Boston Red Sox ended up winning the third game of the four-game series 7-1. The next game is scheduled for tomorrow at 1:35 PM (ET).
Gerrit Cole allowed 5 hits, 7 earned runs, 3 walks, and just 2 strikeouts in 4.1 innings. Tim Mayza and Tim Hill came in to close out the game and prevented the damage from escalating further after the early runs.