Rafael Devers comes through again
By Tab Bamford
Rafael Devers hasn’t been scared of big moments in these playoffs. But a moment in the dugout during Game 4 of the World Series got gave him pause.
With the Dodgers leading 4-0 Boston ace Chris Sale was seen screaming at his teammates in the dugout.
“At that moment, that was huge because it motivated us,” Devers said after the game. “It scared me a little bit because I had never seen him yell like that and the words that he was saying, I had never heard that come from him before. But, you know, we came out sluggish and that moment helped us get motivated for the rest of the game.”
If you can read lips you know that Sale’s comments were NSFW, but they worked. The Red Sox rallied to score nine unanswered runs and now stand one win away from a championship.
When asked about the outburst, Red Sox manager Álex Cora had a different reaction.
“Chris, in the dugout screaming? My English is very limited, so I didn’t understand what he was saying,” Cora said.
Calm under pressure
Devers didn’t start Game 4 but was called upon came up to pinch hit in a tie game in the top of the ninth.
“Álex tells us to be ready from the first inning on because you don’t know what situations are going to arise,” Devers said. “And that’s just what we do is, we try to stay ready to help in any way that we can.”
His clutch single drove in Brock Holt with the go-ahead run. Boston would add four more runs in the inning to blow the game open.
With his RBI on Saturday evening, Devers now has 14 career postseason runs batted in, tying Andruw Jones’ major league record for players under the age of 22.
“I was just ready for my moment to come, whenever that may be,” he said. “Being in the National League you’ve got to be ready from the first inning with obviously the pitchers hitting. So I just wanted to be ready for whatever the situation.”
Devers’ defensive play at third base has been cause for concern at times during his young career. He has committed 38 errors in 172 regular seasons games.
But when the Dodgers were trying to spark a rally in the bottom of the ninth inning, Devers made a play that helped close the door. Devers took a would-be hit away from Manny Machado for the second out of the ninth inning.
When he needed to make a play, Devers did it in the field as well as with his bat.
“It’s a game of instincts,” he said of the defensive gem. “I just wanted to make sure I threw the ball hard, because Machado is a pretty good runner. So I just wanted to make sure I got it.”
Featured Image: Sean M. Haffey / Major League Baseball