How Did Rafael Devers Fare In First Game Vs. Red Sox?

There wasn’t much time for the drama to build before Rafael Devers took the field for the San Francisco Giants against the Boston Red Sox for the first time. The designated hitter faced his former team for the first time on Friday night, less than a week after being traded.

It wasn’t the revenge game Devers dreamed of, though. The lefty went 0-5 with a strikeout.

In his first at-bat, he grounded out on the very first pitch. He may have been a little over his skis. The first pitch he saw was a fastball on the inside corner, and he could only roll over it and ground out to first. Hunter Dobbins’ fastball has some perceived cut, which may have contributed to the ball hitting the handle, but Devers’ adrenaline might have played a factor.

His second at-bat was better, but the result was ultimately the same. Devers saw five fastballs and got one to handle, but couldn’t ride the wind enough to get out of the park as Ceddane Rafaela made a leaping catch at the wall.

Brennan Bernardino came on to face the DH with a runner on first in the fifth inning, but quickly got him to ground out to shortstop. He faced another lefty in Justin Wilson in the seventh and flew out to center once again.

In the ninth inning, Devers came up down two runs against Aroldis Chapman. In 2017, Devers famously hit a late-game home run off Chapman in Yankee Stadium. On Friday, Chapman overpowered him with a 102 mph fastball for the second out of the inning.

Chapman retired the final hitter of the inning, and the Red Sox beat the Giants, 7-5. Devers will have another chance to hurt his former team Saturday when Brayan Bello takes the mound for Boston.