Red Sox manager Alex Cora accuses Yankees ace Gerrit Cole of INTENTIONALLY beaning slugger Rafael Devers

New York Yankees player Gerrit Cole hit Red Sox slugger Rafael Devers in the first inning of Saturday’s loss in the Bronx, and Boston manager Alex Cora is convinced it was intentional.

Devers saw four inside pitches from Cole in his first at-bat on Saturday, the last of which caught a piece from the three-time All-Star. Then, Cole intentionally walked Devers in the fourth despite the fact that no one was on base.

‘I wasn’t surprised at all [about the intentional walk] because at the first turn I felt that [Cole] hit [Devers] “Intentional,” Cora said after the Sox won 7-1. “He doesn’t want to face him. That’s the crux of the matter. He told us with the intentional walk that he hit him in the first at bat. He hit him. … We took offense to that.”

Devers entered at 14 for 41 (.316) with eight home runs against Cole, including the postseason, but was 9 for 53 (.170) with one RBI since Aug. 30.

On Saturday, Devers hit a two-run single in Boston’s fifth inning that scored four runs.

Devers (left) took a pitch from Gerrit Cole on his hip in the first inning in the Bronx on Saturday

When asked about the punch on the first attempt, Devers said through an interpreter that Cole “surprised” him.

“I didn’t expect that from a future Hall of Famer and I feel like he panicked a little bit,” Devers said.

After retiring nine of his first ten batters, Cole allowed ten of the next twelve batters to reach base.

The 34-year-old right-handed pitcher allowed seven runs, his most since June 9, 2022. He struck out three batters, a personal best, and left the field after 4 1/3 innings.

Brayan Bello (14-7) gave up one run and four hits in 5 1/3 innings for the Red Sox.

Boston (75-74) moved within 3 1/2 games of Minnesota for the final AL wild card, having to beat Detroit and Seattle as well. New York (86-63) saw its AL East lead shrink to two games above second-place Baltimore

Cole’s intentional walk was the pitcher’s first since joining Pittsburgh and facing Milwaukee’s Travis Shaw with runners on second and third in the third inning of a 2-2 game on September 12, 2017.

Boston Red Sox third baseman Rafael Devers (11) follows up with a two-run single

Domingo Santana followed with a two-run double and scored on a single by Eric Thames to give the Brewers a 5-2 win.

“They seized the momentum. It inspired them,” Cole said. “In retrospect, I think it was the wrong move.”

Devers stole second and Masataka Yoshida hit an RBI double into the left corner for Boston’s first hit, tying the score at 1-1. Wilyer Abreu followed with a two-run single for a 3-1 lead and Triston Casas doubled to end the inning.

The Yankees’ first international hits without runners on both bases came in the sixth inning: on September 22, 1930, by Roy Sherid, who batted first, to Al Simmons of the Philadelphia Athletics, and on April 22, 1970, by Fritz Peterson, who batted with two outs off of Frank Howard of Washington.

Trevor Story singled in the first inning and stole second. Danny Jansen walked and Enmanuel Valdez flew out as Story took third. Jarren Duran was hit by a pitch to load the bases, and Devers knuckle-curved to right for a 5-1 lead. Tyler O’Neill was hit by a pitch and Yoshida chased Cole with a two-run single.

Cole is 5-6 with a 6.06 ERA in 15 starts against the Red Sox for the Yankees. At the time of the intentional walk, the Yankees led 1-0 behind Gleyber Torres’ RBI single in the third inning.

“Once we got the run, I would have preferred to attack them. But I obviously didn’t communicate that well enough,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said.

Zach Penrod, a 27-year-old left-hander, made his major league debut for Boston in the eighth inning, replacing Josh Winckowski on Aaron Judge’s leadoff double. He got three outs while working around a walk, retiring Austin Wells and Jazz Chisholm Jr. Penrod’s wife, Kyla, watched the game at Yankee Stadium while holding her week-old daughter, Noa Mae.