Why Red Sox Could Soon Be Thanking Yankees' Gerrit Cole, Per Alex Cora

The rivalry is heating up just in time for the September stretch run

Aug 16, 2024; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora (13) stands in the dugout during the first inning of the game against the Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images / Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images

If you tuned into college football instead of the Boston Red Sox-New York Yankees matchup on Saturday, you sure missed some fireworks.

To briefly recap: Yankees ace Gerrit Cole issued one of the most befuddling intentional walks of all time to Rafael Devers, the Red Sox immediately turned a 1-0 deficit into a 7-1 lead, and the postgame press conferences were full of jabs directed at Cole from the Boston clubhouse.

It was the type of incident that can galvanize a clubhouse. And if the Red Sox were going to be galvanized, it came at the last, best possible time.

Boston is still miraculously alive in the American League playoff hunt, if only barely. Thanks to the Minnesota Twins' 3-7 stretch in their last 10 games, Boston is 3 1/2 games behind those Twins for a playoff spot. They'll host Minnesota for three games at Fenway Park next weekend.

Manager Alex Cora, who took Cole to task for hitting Devers with a pitch in the first inning after the game on Saturday, came back Sunday with a different tone.

“If this happens (making the playoffs), we’re going to look back at yesterday. We’re probably going to thank Gerrit Cole for getting us going. Hopefully it happens and hopefully we can face him in the playoffs because he will have to pitch to him (Devers)," Cora said, per Chris Kirschner of The Athletic.

"Hopefully it happens. We still have a long way to go. I’m not promising that we’re going to make the playoffs, but if we do, we’re going to look back on Saturday.”

The odds are still stacked against the Red Sox. Per Fangraphs, they have a 5.9% chance to make the playoffs. Beating Carlos Rodon and the Yankees on Sunday would be a huge step in the right direction, but they still need a ton of other scenarios to break their way.

Nonetheless, it seems something about Cole's decision to walk Devers woke the Red Sox up on Saturday, after weeks of lifeless baseball. We'll soon see if Boston can do anything with that newfound momentum.

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