Luis Gil was pitching well for the first time in a while, but Rafael Devers came to bat with one out in the top of the seventh inning.
Aaron Boone and the Yankees opted to use Gill instead of Luke Weaver, who was warming up in the bullpen, to face the Red Sox sluggers.
Devers then did something he’s done so many times against the Yankees, not just this season but throughout his career: he hit a home run.
Then he did it again in the ninth inning off Michael Tonkin to seal a 3-0 win in the Bronx on Sunday.
When asked if he considered replacing Gill with Weaver in the seventh inning, Boone said, “I thought about it a little bit.”
However, the manager noticed that Gill and Weaver had similar “profiles.”
The decision did not pay off.
It wasn’t the first time.
Devers’ 28 career home runs against the Yankees are the most of any active player, and his 16 at the current stadium are tied with Evan Longoria for the third-most in the stadium’s history, behind Jose Bautista (19) and Edwin Encarnacion (18).
Devers was playing so well that manager Boone asked him if he had considered intentionally walking the third baseman with one out and no runners on base in the bottom of the seventh.
“No,” Boone said. “No. Zero.” [thought]. no.”
As the topic continued, Boone spoke emphatically: “I’m not going to intentionally walk him when it’s 0-0 and the bases are open. We know who he is. We know where he is. I know what you’re saying, but I’m not going to intentionally walk him.”
Instead, the Yankees tried to be cautious with Devers, without much success.
Given the numbers Devers put up against the Yankees, there is clearly cause for concern.
“Trust me, we’re going to look at it thoroughly,” Boone said of the Yankees’ approach. “Sometimes during the season, when the time and the place are right, you get a guy who takes a good swing. He’s a great player. … We’re very invested in where we get him.”
And as Devers proved when he hit Tonkin with a 93 mph four-seam fastball high and outside, well outside the strike zone, there’s not much you can do to avoid his damage.
“He’s definitely a guy who performed well,” Boone said. “I want to play better against him.”
Devers’ success wasn’t limited to just at the plate.
He also made a nice catch on a slow chop ball to third base from DJ LeMahieu to end the bottom of the eighth with runners on base.
Devers caught the ball with his bare hands and threw it powerfully to first base.
He’s the most dangerous with the bat — especially in the Bronx.
Devers is batting .463 (19-for-41) with seven home runs and two doubles over his past 10 games.
Luckily for the Yankees, the Red Sox don’t return until September.
Who knows what the AL East standings will look like by then, with the struggling Yankees struggling against just about every team since mid-June.
