How Xander Bogaerts Earned Last Laugh Over Rafael Devers With One Swing

Xander Bogaerts didn’t dwell on a bit of unluckiness Wednesday night. Instead, he stayed patient and ultimately received his moment.

Bogaerts entered the Red Sox’s series finale against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field with a pair of milestones within his grasp. Boston’s shortstop was two home runs shy of reaching 30 on the season and three RBIs short of 100.

It looked as though Bogaerts was going to gain ground on the RBI mark in the third inning when he laced a sharp grounder to the left side. Unfortunately for the two-time All-Star, he fell victim to the stellar glove of Nolan Arenado, who robbed Bogaerts of a run-scoring knock. Bogaerts left no room for a web gem in his third at-bat of the game, however, as he walloped a two-run shot in the fifth inning.

Had Bogaerts’ grounder evaded Arenado, his 29th home run of the season would have lifted him to the 100-RBI threshold. Rafael Devers couldn’t help but give his teammate some grief about the missed opportunity, but it ended up setting the stage for an even better moment.

Bogaerts went yard again in his next at-bat, checking off 30 homers and 100 RBIs with one swing.

“I was aware I was missing a homer and one more RBI. Devers was joking that if I had got the RBI with the one I hit to Arenado, then with the homer I would have had 100,” Bogaerts told MassLive after the Red Sox’s 7-4 win. “It’s OK. Maybe there’d be something different planned for me. Maybe I’d hit a homer. And I did, man.”

Go figure.

It only would be fair for Bogaerts to get on the case of Devers, who remains two home runs shy of 30 in 2019. But given the way the young third baseman has been swinging the bat this season, he’ll probably reach the mark in short order.