Rafael Devers’s wife files for divorce after a vacation from ….
oston Red Sox star third baseman Rafael Devers had a chance right away Wednesday night against the Cleveland Guardians to show he wasn’t hampered by a knee injury that caused him to miss the previous five games.
A couple batters after Devers laced a single to center in the top of the first inning, he motored around the bases to score from first on a double to the left-center gap by Wilyer Abreu.
Even though Devers scored standing up, Red Sox manager Alex Cora could barely watch the play unfold.
“I was praying to be honest with you,” Cora told reporters following Boston’s 8-0 win at Progressive Field, per NESN postgame coverage. “He didn’t look too good. Then, he kind of like let it go at the end. He wasn’t moving great.”
Cora added: “From first you got to score, right? This is the way it works. First play of the game for him and he tries to score from first. He wasn’t moving great. Let’s put it that way.”
There was obvious concern about Devers reaggravating his knee injury on the play and missing even more time — he has sat out 11 games this season. But Devers had no reservations about turning it loose there.
“I wasn’t scared to go full speed there,” Devers said through translator Carlos Villoria Benítez, per MassLive’s Chris Cotillo. “I haven’t run full speed since I got my injury but I felt good. Didn’t feel any pain or anything like that. I’m gonna take it day-by-day to see how I keep feeling. But everything went well.
“As soon as I saw the ball go through the outfielder, that’s when I started putting some pressure on and trying to run faster. Until then, I was trying to take it easy. When I saw that I had the opportunity to score, that’s when I went for it. … I felt happy about that because I put some pressure on the knee and it didn’t bother me at all.”
That was just the beginning of a strong showing from Devers, who looked more like his All-Star self after getting time off.
Devers reached base four times in the win as he went 3-for-4 with a walk. He belted an opposite field solo home run off Guardians righty Carlos Carrasco in the fifth inning, which traveled 403 feet. In his next at-bat, Devers went to the opposite field again for an RBI ground rule double.
“I never stopped hitting or doing my routine,” Devers said, per Cotillo. “Even though I couldn’t swing hard, I was always doing my work there, doing my mechanical work. That’s why when I came back the timing wasn’t too much off.”
