Aaron Boone Sends Clear Message About Strategy Against Red Sox Star, Yankee Killer

New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone sent a clear message about his team's rather puzzling formula when facing this Boston Red Sox superstar.

Jul 7, 2024; Bronx, New York, USA; Boston Red Sox third baseman Rafael Devers (11) looks up at his solo home run during the ninth inning against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports / Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports

He just keeps killing the New York Yankees.

Boston Red Sox superstar third baseman Rafael Devers spoiled what was a dominant bounce-back evening for Yankees young rookie starter Luis Gil.

Gil went 6.2 innings while striking out nine batters after having just six combined strikeouts in three straight rough outings leading up to Sunday. However, the 26-year-old made one bad pitch to the last slugger you'd want to make a mistake against, leaving a fastball over the heart of the plate to Devers. As a result, the slugger muscled the ball the other way and over the left field wall to give Boston a 1-0 lead.

But Devers wasn't done. Two innings later he launched his second homer of the game into the bullpen in right center field to pad the Red Sox lead to 3-0 in the ninth. Boston left the Bronx winning two out of three, and the Yankees are now 0-5-1 in their last six series.

At this point, it's fair to say that the Yankees need to be very selective when facing the 27-year-old star because his success against them is nothing new. Devers now has 16 home runs in his career at Yankee Stadium and 28 long balls overall against the Bronx Bombers.

When asked if he considered pitching around Devers in the seventh, Yankees manager Aaron Boone sent a clear message.

"No, no. (It's) 0-0, nobody on," Boone said.

Aaron Boone says the Yankees have "invested a lot" looking into how to get Rafael Devers out:

"He's a great player...we'd like to do a better job against him" pic.twitter.com/pmag5dwvSU

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) July 8, 2024

Boone was also questioned regarding whether the Yankees have looked into their approach when facing Devers given how much he has hurt them with his performance in the past.

"We dig into that a lot. Sometimes it's time and place in a season when a guy comes in swinging well. He's a great player.....We'd like to do a better job against him," Boone said.

The Yankees have now lost 15 of their last 20 games. They will finish up the first-half of the regular season with a six-game road trip against two AL East rivals in the Tampa Bay Rays and Baltimore Orioles. New York is currently trailing Baltimore by the three games in the division, and they desperately need a series win against their rivals heading into the All-Star break.