Red Sox Notes: Why Rafael Devers Had Alex Cora ‘Praying’ In Return

Boston 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.”

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

— Cooper Criswell came through for the Red Sox by recording the longest outing of his MLB career. Criswell tossed five scoreless innings while allowing three hits and no walks. He also struck out three.

“Anytime you get an opportunity, get that ball, you want to go out there and give your best stuff, give the team the best chance to win,” Criswell said.

— The Red Sox got one of their best defensive performances of the season, highlighted by a terrific play by Ceddanne Rafaela at shortstop. Rafaela, who made his sixth start of the season at short, barehanded a chopper by Steven Kwan and threw onto first to a stretched out Bobby Dalbec. Kwan was initially ruled safe on the play, but the call was overturned on video replay.

“We’re playing better defense,” Cora said. “The kid at shortstop has done an amazing job slowing everything down.”

— Connor Wong and Wilyer Abreu paced Boston’s 16-hit attack, which was a season high. Wong and Abreu both recorded four hits to stay hot at the plate.

— Zack Kelly impressed in his season debut. He closed things out by tossing two scoreless innings and didn’t let up a hit while striking out three.

“Zack threw excellent,” Cora said. “That’s probably the best I’ve seen him in the years I’ve been here.”

— With Brayan Bello going on the injured list Wednesday, the Red Sox will give the ball to Chase Anderson on Thursday. It will be his first start of the season.

— The Red Sox and Guardians play the rubber match of their three-game series on Thursday. First pitch from Progressive Field is scheduled for 1:10 p.m. ET and you can watch the game, plus an hour of pregame coverage, on NESN.