Red Sox third baseman Rafael Devers explodes for historic six-hit performance

Rafael Devers made history with a career-high six hits to lead the Boston Red Sox to a victory over the Cleveland Indians.

The Boston Red Sox had a night for the record books during Tuesday’s win in Cleveland. While Chris Sale stole most of the headlines by reaching 2,000 career strikeouts, Rafael Devers made a bit of history of his own.

Devers went 6-for-6 with four doubles and three RBI to lead an offense that barely squeaked by the rallying Tribe. This marks the first time in the modern era (since 1900) that a hitter has collected 6+ hits and 4+ doubles in a game, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

Devers is the first Red Sox player since Nomar Garciaparra in 2003 to collect six hits in a game and the youngest MLB player to do it since Joe Morgan in 1965.

A leadoff triple by Mookie Betts was quickly followed by an RBI double by Devers to put Boston on the board early. Devers led off the third inning with a base hit, only to be caught stealing on a strike-em-out-throw-em-out double play. A chopper up the middle led to a hustle double leading off the fifth inning, with Devers clearly thinking two bases out of the box and perhaps catching the defense by surprise. The next inning saw Devers drive in a pair of runs with a double that split the gap in deep left-center field.

The six-hit night was capped with an infield single in the eighth inning that second baseman Jason Kipnis knocked down but failed to scoop up in time to throw out Devers. The play was dangerously close to being ruled an error – that’s a play Kipnis should make. Instead, it made history.

Five of the six hits came off the bat at an exit velocity of over 100 mph. That brings his total number of Hard Hit balls (95+ mph) to 197 this season, which leads the majors by a mile, per Baseball Savant.

The six-hit night raised Devers’ batting average to .325, trailing only DJ LeMahieu in the American League. Devers is tied for the major league lead with 43 doubles and 70 extra-base hits. He joins Ted Williams as the only Red Sox hitter in history with 70+ extra-base hits before turning 23 years old.

Devers had been in a bit of a slump in August, hitting .196 in his last 51 at-bats entering the night. That narrative changed quickly after a six-hit night that raised his batting average to .281 for the month.

The breakout season by Devers has opened some eyes around the league. If the Red Sox can at least hang in the playoff race, their young third baseman should warrant strong MVP consideration. Mike Trout remains the best player in baseball but his Angels are even further out of contention. If voters hold that against Trout then it could favor Devers – if Boston can make a strong push toward the finish line.