SEATTLE - The beauty of baseball lies in the unpredictable. Anything can happen at any given time, and Rafael Devers' six-game streak with a home run is a perfect example.
The first homer of his now franchise-record streak came when the Red Sox were trailing 4-2 against the Tampa Bay Rays. He added another one against the Rays in the last of the four-game series and then proceeded to hit three consecutive dingers at the St. Louis Cardinals' Busch Stadium.
"He's Rafael Devers. He's one of the best hitters in the league for a reason," outfielder Jarren Duran said. "When he has slow days, he only has two hits. Now, he's hitting home runs left and right so we're not surprised. "
The Dominican connected yet another home run against the Rays on May 20 to take his streak to six consecutive games, becoming the first player to do so since Mike Trout's seven-game run in September 2022.
If Devers wants to take a shot at the all-time record, he will have to close out the series against the Rays with at least one on each game. Only three players in MLB history have cleared the fences in eight consecutive games: Ken Griffey Jr. (1993 Mariners), Don Mattingly ('87 Yankees) and Dale Long ('56 Pirates).
Throughout his career, the only opponent ballparks in which Devers has cleared the fences more often than at the Rays' Tropicana Field (7) are Yankee Stadium (13), the Orioles' Camden Yards (11) and the Blue Jays' Rogers Centre (10).
In fact, even though Devers has proved time and time again that he is one of the best hitters in the Majors, he somehow performs better away from Fenway Park. Throughout his career, Devers has hit 182 home runs but only 75 of them were when playing at home.
"You take in where Raffy Devers is right now, he's probably the hottest hitter in baseball, and he's doing a lot of special things at the plate," said Rays manager Kevin Cash after the Rays fell to the Red Sox 5-0 on May 20.
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