Boston Red Sox slugger Rafael Devers on Sunday used one of his best swings of the season for a three home runs against New York Yankees starter Gerrit Cole in a 9-2 victory.
Devers’ blast, which measured 451 feet to right field, was the second fastest home run in the team’s history, according to Red Sox Notes. It traveled 100.1 miles per hour, second to Devers’ own home run against Aroldis Chapman in 2017. That one measured 102.8 mph.
Could Devers possibly hit a ball better than that?
“I think so, yeah,” Devers said with a smirk during a postgame video conference. “I feel like I have before. I feel like I’ve hit the ball actually harder. And it was a fastball too so I was able to get on it and hit the ball far.”
Red Sox manager Alex Cora added: “Huge. Huge. … He put a great swing. This kid, he was into this series. I saw him talking to veterans about situations, about at bats. He keeps growing. Like I said, this is his best first half of the season professionally and we all know what he does in the second (half) so it should be fun watching him.”
Devers went 3-for-4 in the game with four RBIs. The 24-year-old hit a RBI single to left field in the seventh inning as two of his three hits came against Cole.
“Obviously with the type of pitcher he is as well, like he’s a really good pitcher, someone you can’t overlook,” Devers said through the team translator. “So he has his moments just like all of us, ups and downs, so today we were able to get him, but yeah it was good to get (the home run).”
Devers now has 19 home runs on the season with 79 hits and 22 RBIs.
