2. Rafael Devers turns around a 103 mph fastball against Chapman. Gives Red Sox huge win vs Yankees.
When Rafael Devers was called up to the bigs, he was called up to platoon at third base until next season. Nobody expected him to be the player that he was. His first major league hit was a home run, and ever since then, he was a star.
But on the big stage, nobody’s star shined brighter than Rafael Devers.
It was on a Sunday night, against the New York Yankees, in the middle of a pennant race. The Yankees led 2-1 in the bottom of the ninth, and the hardest throwing closer in baseball was on the mound.
Aroldis Chapman hurled a 103 mph heater at Devers, and he turned it around. Lefties have a notoriously hard time hitting Chapman, but on this night, Devers made it look easy.
This was the moment that Devers turned into a star for Boston. Any time that you have a big hit against your arch-rival on a huge stage, you become a hero.
But this was not the end. Boston eventually went on to win the game. In the tenth, another Red Sox rookie, Andrew Benintendi, singled to give the Red Sox a 3-2 lead. Then, of course, Craig Kimbrel came to close the door.
Boston left New York with a 5.5 game lead, which helped them close it out down the stretch.
Number one was the Red Sox game of the year, but it very well could have been the MLB game of the year.