Devers Hits First-Inning Home Run Against Yankees In Back-To-Back GamesFirst Red Sox Player To Do That In 55 Years (Yaz, April 1967)

Rafael Devers, the second batter of Saturday's Red Sox/Yankees game, hit the first pitch he saw for his 22nd home run of the season. He also went deep in the opening frame on Friday and thus is the first Red Sox batter to hit a first-inning home run in back-to-back games against the Yankees since Carl Yastrzemski (April 22-23, 1967).

It was Devers's fifth dong against the MFY this season and the 18th of his career. The only player to hit more home runs against the Yankees before turning 26 is Ted Williams (20). Devers's 26th birthday is October 24, so he has 10 more games against New York to get past TSW. Starting today . . .

Devers is also the first Red Sox player to hit 20+ HR before the All-Star Break in consecutive seasons since David Ortiz (2004-06) and Manny Ramirez (2003-06).

After Devers's shot, Xander Bogaerts singled. . . . And then Jameson Taillon and Ryan Weber retired the next 22 Boston batters. By the time the Red Sox had another man on base – Jackie Bradley's two-out walk in the eighth – they trailed 10-1. The final score was 14-1. It was the Red Sox's worst loss in New York since 1952.

I probably can live without Bogaerts, but that rich motherfucker (John Henry) better fuckin sign Devers, who could be a free agent after the 2023 season. (Flo: "100 percent, when I see Devers, it's like I never left . . . He looks invincible out there. . . . Devers might be one of the top-three pure hitters in the game right now. . . . I hope the Red Sox make sense of the decision they need to make with him . . . We've got to keep him. He's the face of the organization.") . . . In his second (or maybe even third) big league season, Devers was still younger than everyone on Boston's AA team. The dude is 25. Don't make me watch his prime years in another uniform.

Weber's three-inning save was the MFY's first at home against the Red Sox since Bob "Don't Call Me" Shirley got one on Saturday, September 13, 1986. That's really slicing things a bit too thin to be worth mentioning, but I bring it up to point out that was my first game at Yankee Stadium. I flew down from Burlington, Vermont, for the weekend and Laura had bought tickets (upper deck, third base side). I apparently discouraged the guy sitting behind me from keeping a scorecard when he saw me pull out a pen to write in the lineups. (Man, fuck those stubby pencils that aren't even sharp to begin with.) That was also the Rice-Goes-Into-The-Stands-To-Fight-For-His-Purloined-Cap game, which bit of nutzo entertainment I missed because I was out in the concourse waiting in a beer line. Tom Seaver started for the Red Sox and the MFY won 11-6.

After the game, Intimidated Scorer, his friend, and Laura and I went to some bar in the Village (? – my post-game memory is decidedly blurry) and we got drunk(er) and I stole two shot glasses that reminded me of test tubes. We called them our George Jetson shot glasses. And here they are . . . missing from wherever for nearly 47 years . . .

The Jetsons was the first series to be broadcast in colour on ABC. At the time (1962), only 3% of the general public owned colour sets. Don Messick, who did Rastro's roice, also did Scooby-Doo's voice, which makes sense now that I know.

Matt Carpenter drove in seven runs. He also had seven RBI in G1 on June 12. Only four Yankees have had multiple 7+ RBI games in the same season: 

Babe Ruth      (1929)
Lou Gehrig     (1930, 1934)
Joe DiMaggio   (1940)
Matt Carpenter (2022)

One of these things is not (even remotely) like the others.

In two of Saturday's four shutouts, the final score was 10-0 and each winning team had innings in which they scored 2, 3, and 5 runs. The losing teams each had five hits. Winning teams hit totals almost matched.

Phillies  - 000 203 050 - 10 15  0
Marlins   - 000 000 000 -  0  5  0

Tigers    - 000 000 000 -  0  5  0
Guardians - 350 200 00x - 10 13  0

In Toronto, the Blue Jays matched the Royals run for run and then added an extra for the win at home.

Royals    - 001 200 000 2 - 5  9  0
Blue Jays - 001 200 000 3 - 6 12  0

Saturday's Post