BOSTON — Alex Cora and Rafael Devers were at the new MGM Music Hall near Fenway Park last Thursday night, watching the Spanish singer Rosalia in concert, when the Red Sox manager had a message for his star third baseman.
Cora told Devers that he was moving him back to second in the lineup.
“That smile, it was huge,” Cora said.
In a year in which Devers has been getting banged up, Cora’s decision was a validation that he liked where Devers looked physically. The manager hoped it could unlock the third baseman for the final couple weeks of the season.
And three days after learning of his lineup switch, Devers was still smiling. He helped engineer an offense that had been scuffling for a couple days, with four of their 20 hits – including a key two-run single – and three RBI as the Red Sox routed the Royals with an 13-3 victory and a series win.
Leading 5-3 in the fifth, the Red Sox were looking for a big hit to break the game open when Devers stepped to the dish with two outs and the bases loaded after Tommy Pham drew a walk. After working the count full against Royals pitcher Anthony Misiewicz, which got the Fenway crowd on its feet.
Devers stepped out of the box and took one of his signature deep breaths before coming up with a big knock. He went fishing for a curveball that was out of zone and seemingly out of reach on the outer edge, but connected and lofted the ball over second baseman Michael Massey, who was positioned in short right in the shift. It scored two and the Red Sox well on their way.
Devers also added a leadoff double in the fourth on a ball hit to left, as the third baseman hustled hard out of the box and aggressively rounded first before sliding into second and just beating Massey’s tag. It didn’t ultimately net a run, but it was an indication of how good Devers feels physically right now.
The Red Sox put the game away with four runs in the sixth. J.D. Martinez hit a leadoff double before the Sox put together a two-out rally, with four consecutive hits from Kiké Hernández, Yu Chang, Reese McGuire and Pham to put them ahead, 11-3.
Devers padded his tally in the eighth. After Pham hit a two-out ground-rule double, he hit a single the other way to put the Sox up 13-3 and clinch his first four-hit game since May.
Xander Bogaerts hit another milestone with his 1,400th career hit with the Red Sox, an RBI double in the first inning. The shortstop became the fourth player in franchise history to achieve that feat before turning 30.
