Yankees' Historic Intentional Walk Of Red Sox Star Has Everyone Shaking Their Heads

This might be the weirdest decision of the season...

Sep 14, 2024; Bronx, New York, USA; New York Yankees starting pitcher Gerrit Cole (45) reacts during the fifth inning against the Boston Red Sox at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images / Brad Penner-Imagn Images

The Boston Red Sox offense was asleep at the wheel again on Saturday. For 3 1/3 innings, it was much of the same failure to score that has plagued Boston for weeks.

Then, the New York Yankees kindly decided to jumpstart it for them.

Starting pitcher Gerrit Cole intentionally walked slumping Red Sox superstar Rafael Devers, who hasn't been himself for almost a month while nursing injuries to both shoulders, in a 1-0 game in the top of the fourth.

Yes, that really happened. With the bases empty and one out, the Yankees' ace held up four fingers and pointed Devers to first. Devers has tormented Cole through the years, hitting eight home runs against him, and the 2023 Cy Young winner evidently thought there was no use trying anymore.

The walk was an obvious turning point in the game. Boston scored seven earned runs off Cole before he could get through two more innings, and Devers himself did part of the damage with a two-run single. The Red Sox won, 7-1, preventing them from dipping below .500 for the first time since June.

The loss was small potatoes, given that the Yankees maintained a 2 1/2 game lead over the Baltimore Orioles in the American League East as of the last out. But the walk was so unprecedented, and so cowardly, that one couldn't help but wonder how the Yankees came to decide it was wise.

According to MLB.com reporter Bryan Hoch, the free pass was the earliest recorded intentional walk the Yankees had ever issued with the bases empty. The previous mark was a sixth-inning intentional walk in 1970.

Cole himself also had not issued an intentional walk of any kind in the regular season since 2017, according to YES Network researcher Erica Block.

Adding to the intrigue, Red Sox manager Alex Cora was convinced postgame, in light of the intentional pass, that Cole's hit-by-pitch of Devers in the first inning was intentional.

"He didn't want to face him," Cora said, per Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic.

It painted Cole's comments from earlier in the week in a very different light. Cole was asked which Hispanic hitter gave him the most trouble during his career, and said without hesitation, "Rafael Devers," It was a moment of levity in an otherwise unmemorable press conference.

Now, though, we'll all remember the time Cole was so afraid of Devers that he couldn't stand to face him, even with the Red Sox falling out of the race, and even with Devers playing hurt.

And they won't see each other again this season, but what is Cole supposed to do when Devers steps back in the box against him for the first time in 2025? The mental battle is starting off as a serious mismatch.

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