Red Sox Notes: Rafael Devers Continues To Add To Record Books

The Red Sox offense came alive Friday afternoon, and it was Rafael Devers who set the tone.

Devers capped off a four-run sixth inning with a three-run home run to give Boston a 6-2 lead it did not relinquish and continued to build. That came in a 13-run eighth inning when the All-Star slugger hit a grand slam off Baltimore Orioles infielder Emmanuel Rivera. Alex Cora’s side beat the O’s 19-5 to take the first game of a doubleheader at Fenway Park.

Devers went 4-for-6 and recorded a career-high eight RBIs in the afternoon tilt. The two home runs landed his career tally at 212 and landed him inside the top 10 in franchise history, passing Rico Petrocelli. Devers was 10 home runs behind Jimmie Fox for ninth on Boston’s all-time home run list.

“There was one at-bat at one point, and you look up and you’re like, ‘Oh, shoot. This is happening.'” Cora told reporters, as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage. “I told (Rob Refsnyder), ‘Man, he was 0-for-20 with 15 strikeouts. And everybody was jumping off the roof of buildings, and he has to play third for him hit and all that.’ The guy hits. He’s been hitting since 2017.

“There’s a reason they called him up that year. Was he prepared to play third base at this level? Probably not. But they needed a bat. The bat has spoke loud and clear since he got here. He’s made an impact on this organization, and you keep looking at the numbers and now he’s No. 9 in home runs, and then the RBIs are creeping up. He’s having an outstanding season. He keeps working at it. There was some flaws early on. Spring training wasn’t perfect. We know that. And little by little, he’s been building his swing, and against lefties, he’s been amazing doing damage against them.”

Devers was on an outstanding stretch heading into Friday. The star slugger hit three home runs and collected seven RBIs off a 1.467 OPS in the last seven games, and Friday afternoon showed he isn’t slowing down anytime soon.

Here are more notes from the first game of Friday’s doubleheader:

— Before Boston’s offensive fireworks, Alex Bregman left the game in the fifth inning due to right quad tightness. Cora told reporters that Nick Sogard would start at third and Abraham Toro would start at first in the second game. Bregman would test his injury Saturday.

— Another blemish from the win was Brayan Bello’s performance. The right-hander only gave up two runs and struck out seven batters. But he only went four innings off 87 pitches. It was the 18th time this season that a Red Sox starter pitched less than five innings this season. Bello hasn’t pitched at least five innings since May 2 against the Minnesota Twins.

“It’s hard. We need our starters to go deeper,” Cora said. “I actually thought he had good stuff. I truly believe that. There was some long at-bats from 0-2, to a lot of foul balls, to get people out. The contact wasn’t hard, right, but the at-bats were long. He got 87 pitches. That’s the pocket right there. …”

— The Red Sox bullpen stepped up and did not give up a run while allowing four innings — not including infielder Abraham Toro, who finished the game. Garrett Whitlock earned the win, pitching two innings and recording two strikeouts.

— Boston scored 13 runs in the eighth inning. That’s the most in franchise history since June 27, 2003.

— Refsnyder continues to mash against lefties. The veteran outfielder had a .960 OPS against left-handed pitchers heading into Friday, and his three-run home run against Cionel Perez highlighted his proficiency against southpaws.

— The two three-run home runs put the Red Sox at 15 three-run dingers on the year, tied with the Los Angeles Dodgers for most in MLB.

— First pitch for the second game of the doubleheader is scheduled at 7:10 p.m. ET, and you can catch full coverage on NESN starting at 6 p.m.