Devers walks on board
Rookie helps Sox in debut
SEATTLE — Can’t say the rookie didn’t change the game.
At 20 years, 274 days old, Rafael Devers became the youngest player to appear in the majors this season last night.
By the sixth inning, he had made his mark.
Devers laid off a pair of tough pitches by former Cy Young winner Felix Hernandez to draw a leadoff walk. And after Andrew Benintendi drew a walk two batters later to push him to second, the kid made a smart read on a dirt ball to advance to third and put two runners in scoring position for Dustin Pedroia.
Pedroia converted with a two-run double to tie the game and Jackie Bradley Jr. then drove in Pedroia. The Red Sox had their first lead of the night, and it all started with Devers.
He reached base twice via walks in his debut, but Heath Hembree allowed a solo shot to Mike Zunino and the Seattle Mariners tied it up, 4-4, as the game went into extra innings at Safeco Field.
As far as debuts go, Devers did nothing to stand out in the first nine innings of his first big league game. But he made all the plays at third base, showed composure at the plate and put the top of the order in position to drive him in with two walks in key moments. That the Red Sox had a hitter worth paying attention to in the No. 9 spot in the order might have made a bigger impact than one might notice.
But, as it’s been, the offense wasn’t exactly firing on all cylinders.
Hanley Ramirez hit a solo shot in the fourth for the first run of the game.
By that point, the Sox were already down three runs, all charged to starter Drew Pomeranz.
He ran into trouble in the second inning when he issued a two-out walk to Ben Gamel that put two runners on for Guillermo Heredia. Heredia smacked a high fastball over the plate for a three-run shot that put the Sox in a 3-0 hole.
Pomeranz still found a way to go five innings and struck out seven, but it was his worst start since June 11. Constantly battling health issues since he joined the Red Sox last July, Pomeranz made a season-changing adjustment after a triceps injury in May that helped him feel more comfortable.
After making that change, Pomeranz became one of the best pitchers in the majors, ranking sixth with a 2.62 ERA in his 12 starts since May 20 until last night.
With seven K’s last night, he has struck out 76 strikeouts in his last 731⁄ innings, averaging about 51⁄ innings per start.
“Honestly I think there are two things,” pitching coach Carl Willis said. “The cutter, he’s using it more, has good action with it, is commanding it well. And just along with that command, he has a much better feel right now for not pitching just one side of the plate. His strength has always been in to righties and away from lefties. Right now, he has a really good feel for the other side as well. So when you add the cutter to that, it really widens the plate and it’s been a big help.”
Hembree replaced Pomeranz and threw a scoreless sixth before giving away the lead in the seventh. Matt Barnes threw two scoreless and Brandon Workman threw a scoreless ninth to send the game into extra innings.