SAN FRANCISCO — Rafael Devers went hitless in five at-bats in his first game against his former team as the Giants fell to the Boston Red Sox, 7-5, on Friday night at Oracle Park.
Devers received a standing ovation in his first plate appearance of the night. Along with the Giants fans rising to their feet, a smattering of Red Sox fans saluted their former star. Some Boston fans, though, elected to remain seated. The 28-year-old could not appease the crowd, grounding out for the second out of the inning.
The three-time All-Star stepped to the plate in the bottom of the fifth and seventh innings following a pair of singles from Heliot Ramos, but Devers grounded out in the former inning and flew out in the latter frame. In Devers’ fifth and final plate appearance of the night, he struck out swinging on a 101.8 mph four-seam fastball from Aroldis Chapman.
The game, itself, was a seesaw battle, albeit one that didn’t exactly feature crisp baseball.
The Giants took the lead in the bottom of the first when Red Sox second baseman David Hamilton muffed Wilmer Flores’ weakly-hit line drive, allowing Mike Yastrzemski to score and giving San Francisco a 1-0 lead.
They scored two more in the second when Christian Koss grounded into a bases-loaded double play, then Mike Yastrzemski singled on a comebacker to Boston starter Hunter Dobbins that he tried (and failed) to snag with a behind-the-back grab. Despite how it looked, San Francisco had a 3-0 lead.
Boston tied the game with a two-run homer from Hamilton in the third, then an RBI single from Ceddanne Rafaela in the fourth. San Francisco re-took the lead in the bottom of the fourth with Koss’ second double play with the bases loaded.
Things got ugly for the Giants in the top of the fifth inning. Roman Anthony drove in a run with a single, then advanced to second base when Jung Hoo Lee overthrew the cutoff man. The Red Sox took advantage of Lee’s mental error with the help of Christian Koss’ fielding error. Abraham Toro followed Anthony by hitting a grounder that slipped underneath Koss’ glove, allowing Anthony to score and giving Boston a 5-4 lead.
San Francisco got one of those runs right back in the bottom half of the inning with an RBI single from Wilmer Flores to drive in Heliot Ramos. Ramos likely would’ve been out by several feet if Rafaela made a good throw, but Rafaela’s throw skipped home on several bounces, allowing the Giants to tie the game at five apiece.
Rafaela avenged the poor throw the next inning with a booming 424-foot home run to left-center field on a hanging curveball by right-hander Sean Hjelle. The 24-year-old donned Boston’s Wally the Green Monster helmet, and Boston had a 6-5 lead. Wilyer Abreu padded the lead in the seventh with an RBI single in the seventh, extending Boston’s lead to 7-5.
Mike Yastrzemski had an opportunity to, at the minimum, tie the game in the bottom of the eighth when he stepped to the plate with the bases loaded, but Yastrzemski struck out swinging on a slider in the dirt from Garrett Whitlock.