Red Sox Notes: José Ramírez Offers Lesson To Rafael Devers

Guardians star third baseman José Ramírez put together a dominant performance Thursday night at Progressive Field to send the Red Sox tumbling under the .500 mark for the first time since late April.

And Red Sox manager Alex Cora hoped Rafael Devers paid close attention to his counterpart belting three home runs in a lopsided 10-3 win for the Guardians.

Cora, like the Red Sox, wished that type of output was coming from Devers at the moment. But the Red Sox star is struggling at the plate, a state Ramírez was in as well before his big-time display of power. Cora believes Devers can learn a lesson from Ramírez as a breakout performance could be around the corner just as Ramírez showed.

“He’s a good hitter,” Cora told reporters, as seen on NESN postgame coverage. “(Wednesday), the double at the end of the game. He put a good swing on the fastball up and then the 3-1 pitch put another one. With Corey (Kluber), I think he got a breaking ball, hit it in the air. You look at his numbers and you’re like, ‘At one point he’s going to get hot.’ It’s kind of like the way we see Raffy, right? He didn’t look too good early on (for) José, and then he had a huge night like this. Hopefully we can have that from the big boy at one point this weekend.”

Devers hasn’t provided the All-Star caliber bat that he is known for in the middle of Boston’s order recently. He collected only two hits in the entire series and finished Thursday’s loss 0-for-3 with a walk. The Red Sox’s offense has suffered with Devers’ bat going cold, having scored over three runs just once in their last six games.

Devers has batted .233 with a mere six RBIs over the last 15 days, not the type of numbers expected from the face of the franchise. But as Ramírez showed, this slump won’t last for Devers. With the talent he possesses, Devers is just a swing away from getting back on track and looking like the hitter who crushed 10 home runs in the first month of the season.

Red Sox Wrap: José Ramírez Plays Home Run Derby In Win Over Boston

Jun 8, 2023

Here are more notes from Thursday’s Red Sox-Guardians game:

— Triston Casas was one of only two members of the Red Sox with two hits in the game, including a solo home run in the sixth inning. And while the rookie first baseman has endured plenty of hitting woes, too, he feels like he’s currently in a good spot when he steps into the batter’s box.

“My swing felt really good,” Casas told reporters, as seen on NESN postgame coverage. “There were a couple of times early in the game I went a little bit out of the zone just because my swing did feel so good and I was trying to be aggressive. Trying to find a happy medium like always.”

— With the game getting out of hand in the middle innings, Cora left Corey Kluber in the game to bear the brunt of the damage. Kluber, who came on in relief, allowed eight straight hits in a pivotal five-run sixth for the Guardians. The veteran right-hander ended up pitching 3 1/3 innings in which he surrendered seven runs and 11 hits while striking one and walking one. But there was one positive from another rough outing from Kluber.

“It’s very tough, not only with him, like with anybody that we have out there,” Cora said. “We were talking about it: hit the ball hard, off the end, check swing. It was like we couldn’t buy a break. He gave us enough. We were able to reset our bullpen and let’s be ready for tomorrow.”

— The Red Sox have now lost eight of their last 11 games and sit 14 games out of first place in the American League East.

— Matt Dermody pitched four innings allowing three runs on four hits with one walk and one strikeout in his spot start for the Red Sox. Cora told reporters after the game he had been designated for assignment.

— The Red Sox begin their first series with the archrival New York Yankees on Friday. First pitch from Yankee Stadium is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. ET, and you can watch the game, plus an hour of pregame coverage, on NESN.