Even without Gerrit Cole on the mound, Rafael Devers is comfortable against the New York Yankees. Luis Gil's pitches dove around the Boston Red Sox's bats all night, but Devers didn't let him escape unscathed.
He mashed his second home run in as many days in the seventh inning of the series finale between the arch rivals. The third baseman's homer lifted his squad out of a 0-0 deadlock and he made sure to admire his work as his ball soared over the left field fence.
Devers' 20th home run of the year was his 11th go-ahead bomb against the Yankees on the road — the most in Red Sox history, and Devers is just 27 years old. In the ninth inning, Devers collected his 21st long ball of the season, and his 16th as a visiting player at Yankee Stadium.
But in the seventh inning, another Yankee killer may have emerged. Ceddanne Rafaela drilled his second homer of the series to give the Sox some insurance. His 412-foot blast tore over the left field fence and the childhood Red Sox fan took a slow lap around the bases.
Rafael Devers is Red Sox's best Yankee killer, but another may be on the rise
Rafael Devers breaks the tie on #SundayNightBaseball! pic.twitter.com/3IUgciv9dh
— MLB (@MLB) July 8, 2024
Rafeala's first home run in the Bronx put an exclamation point on Boston's biggest comeback of the season. After Masataka Yoshida's game-extending, two-out, ninth inning blast on July 5, Rafaela crushed the game-winner.
The loss was particularly crushing for New York — Boston couldn't even hand it a win. The Red Sox walked in a run and gave one up for free on an error, but the Yankees' bullpen couldn't keep them off the board.
Rafaela has racked up nine hits against the Yankees in his rookie year. The center fielder and shortstop signed an eight-year extension early in the season, and the first year of Devers' 10-year contract with the Sox is underway.
The Yankees and their fans will have to battle Devers, their biggest kryptonite, for a long time. And now it seems he's training another.