Cole pays price for free pass

Yankees ace allows seven runs after intentional walk of Red Sox's Devers

- PETER SBLENDORIO

After getting plunked by a pitch in his first at-bat Saturday, Boston’s Rafael Devers drew an intentional walk with the bases empty.

NEW YORK Gerrit Cole gave Rafael Devers the Aaron Judge treatment. But it backfired.

Cole’s unorthodox intentional walk of his longtime on-field nemesis proved to be the turning point in the Yankees’ 7-1 loss to the Boston Red Sox on Saturday afternoon in the Bronx.

With the bases empty and one out in the fourth inning, Cole held up four fingers and issued the intentional free pass to Devers, who boasted a .341 average and eight home runs in 41 at-bats against him.

The Yankees were leading 1-0 at that point, and Cole had not allowed a hit.

“He caught me by surprise,” Devers said through a translator. “I didn’t expect that from a future Hall of Famer, and I feel like he panicked a little bit.”