Giants yet to see the benefit of Rafael Devers deal as they fall to Red Sox
When Buster Posey conducted his first San Francisco Giants shakeup on June 4, the team won seven straight.
San Francisco's top baseball official then stunned the industry by acquiring slugger Rafael Devers on June 15, but the Giants have since lost four of five. Friday, the Red Sox — who dealt Devers away five days earlier — came to Oracle Park and stayed hot, earning their eighth win in nine games by downing San Francisco 7-5.
The Red Sox's top home-run threat was, until Sunday, Devers. Friday, they got blasts from David Hamilton, a two-run shot in the third, and in the sixth, a solo homer by Ceddanne Rafaela that provided the winning margin.
'It's baseball, it's a business,' Boston manager Alex Cora said before the game when asked about Devers. 'He's not the first guy that got traded, he's not the last guy that's going to get traded. … From my end, I turn the page, man. I've got 26 guys in that locker room that are ready to go. We're in a good spot playoff-wise. It's still early in the season, but the boys are doing an outstanding job staying in the moment. We've got a big series here and our goal is to win.'
Devers got a standing ovation his first at-bat from the Giants' fans, and a lot of Red Sox fans, too, and in the third, he created a stir with a blast to left center, but Rafaela caught it just in front of the wall. Devers was 0-for-5 Friday and is 3-for-16 with two doubles, two walks and an RBI with San Francisco.
The Giants had zero homers and went 2-for-10 with men in scoring position but they did interrupt a string of three consecutive games with just two runs scored by scoring three in the first two innings. They handed them right back in the third and fourth — then gave up more in the fifth, sixth and seventh. A poor plan of action.
Red Sox 7, Giants 5
Boston AB R H BI BB SO Avg.
Totals 39 7 11 6 1 10
Duran lf 5 1 2 0 0 1.260
Narváez c 5 0 0 0 0 3.270
Anthony dh 4 1 1 1 1 1.097
Toro 1b 5 1 1 0 0 1.293
Abreu rf 4 1 2 1 0 1.250
Story ss 4 0 0 0 0 2.227
Mayer 3b 4 0 0 0 0 1.206
Rafaela cf 4 2 3 2 0 0.255
Hamilton 2b 4 1 2 2 0 0.186
San Francisco AB R H BI BB SO Avg.
Totals 32 5 7 2 8 8
Yastrzemski rf 4 1 1 1 1 1.259
Ramos lf 5 1 2 0 0 2.283
Devers dh 5 0 0 0 0 1.188
Flores 1b 5 0 1 1 0 0.255
Lee cf 4 0 0 0 0 0.255
Adames ss 2 2 1 0 2 1.206
Schmitt 3b 3 1 2 0 1 1.250
Bailey c 1 0 0 0 3 1.189
Koss 2b 2 0 0 0 0 0.219
a-Johnson ph 0 0 0 0 0 0.222
b-Fitzgerald ph-2b 1 0 0 0 0 1.237
c-Smith ph 0 0 0 0 1 0.289
1-Wisely pr-2b 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
Boston 002 121 100_7 11 1
San Francisco 120 110 000_5 7 1
a- for Koss in the 6th. b-struck out for Johnson in the 6th. c-walked for Fitzgerald in the 8th.
1-ran for Smith in the 8th.
E_Hamilton (4), Koss (2). LOB_Boston 6, San Francisco 8. 2B_Rafaela (12), Abreu (9), Toro (9). HR_Hamilton (3), off Birdsong; Rafaela (7), off Hjelle. RBIs_Hamilton 2 (10), Rafaela 2 (28), Anthony (5), Abreu (33), Yastrzemski (25), Flores (54). SB_Duran (15).
Runners left in scoring position_Boston 1 (Toro); San Francisco 4 (Yastrzemski 3, Fitzgerald). RISP_Boston 4 for 8; San Francisco 2 for 10.
Runners moved up_Mayer, Ramos, Devers 2, Koss 2. GIDP_Koss.
DP_Boston 2 (Hamilton, Story, Toro; Mayer, Hamilton, Toro).
Boston IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA
Dobbins 4 4 5 4 5 1 75 4.10
Bernardino, W, 3-2 1 1 0 0 0 0 13 3.10
Kelly, H, 2 2-3 0 0 0 1 2 14 5.79
Wilson, H, 11 1 1 0 0 0 1 14 2.08
Weissert, H, 14 1-3 0 0 0 0 0 4 2.62
Whitlock, H, 7 1 1 0 0 2 2 34 2.82
Chapman, S, 14-15 1 0 0 0 0 2 14 1.41
San Francisco IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA
Birdsong 4 1-3 7 5 4 1 4 85 3.25
Hjelle, L, 1-1 1 2 1 1 0 0 19 4.66
Miller 2-3 0 0 0 0 1 10 1.07
Lucchesi 1-3 2 1 1 0 1 8 13.50
Walker 1 2-3 0 0 0 0 2 20 4.20
Bivens 1 0 0 0 0 2 14 3.11
Inherited runners-scored_Bernardino 1-1, Wilson 1-0, Weissert 1-0, Hjelle 1-0, Miller 1-0, Walker 1-0. WP_Wilson.
Umpires_Home, Doug Eddings; First, Mike Muchlinski; Second, Gabe Morales; Third, Emil Jimenez.
T_2:53. A_40,169 (41,915).
Hayden Birdsong was the Giants starter and he had his worst start since joining the rotation in mid-May. He gave up the two-run homer to Hamilton, Boston's No. 9 hitter and a single run in the fourth. In the fifth, things just went south altogether. Jarren Duran led off with a single and stole second and with one out, Roman Anthony singled him in and took second when Jung Hoo Lee missed the cutoff man. Abraham Toro then reached on Christian Koss' error at second, which allowed Anthony to score. The damage to Birdsong: five runs, four earned. He hadn't allowed more than three in his previous five starts.
Koss also hit into two double plays, not great, but both came with no outs and the bases loaded and sent in runs. The Giants also scored a run without a hit in the first, when Mike Yastrzemski led off by walking against Hunter Dobbins, went to second and third on groundouts and scored when Hamilton flat missed Wilmer Flores' big bouncer to second.
That's three runs without hits; the first that came in on an actual hit, well, wasn't much of one. In the second, Yastrzemski sent Casey Schmitt home with a sharp shot up the middle that Dobbins ill-advisedly swiped at, knocking it down in front of the mound. Only Flores' line drive to center in the fifth, which sent in Heliot Ramos, reached the outfield.
The Giants again loaded the bases with two outs in the eighth but Garrett Whitlock struck out Yastrzemski to end the inning.
Before the game, Devers and Cora both said they hadn't spoken since the trade but planned to say hi at some point this series.
'Nothing in this business is personal,' Cora said. 'That's something that, throughout the years, Xander Bogaerts is in San Diego, it's not personal. Mookie Betts is in L.A., it's not personal. Rafi Devers is with the Giants, it's not personal.'
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