Boston Red Sox' Rafael Devers follows through on his RBI double during the fifth inning Wednesday. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)AP
Rafael Devers’ first hit of the 2025 season was a two-out RBI double to right field in the fifth inning of the Red Sox’ 3-0 win over the Orioles on Wednesday.
It broke an 0-for-21, 15-strikeout slump.
“We all needed that one,” manager Alex Cora said.
Did it feel like a weight lifted off Devers’ shoulders when he turned on a 78.6 mph curveball from O’s starter Zach Eflin and crushed the double with a 109.5 mph exit velocity?
“To be honest, no. It was more for other people than for me,” Devers said through translator Carlos Villoria Benítez. “I knew it was going to come. But I also received a lot of texts from people worried about me. And I was OK. So it’s more about other people than for me.”
His teammates erupted in the dugout.
“I enjoyed it a lot,” he said. “It makes me happy seeing that reaction because that makes me see they are paying attention to my at-bat and they’re supporting me.”
He also singled off a 96.2 mph sinker from lefty reliever Gregory Soto in the eighth inning.
Devers felt comfortable during the slump.
“I never pressure myself or anything like that,” Devers said. “Obviously things weren’t going my way.”
He said it might have seemed “bigger than what it really was.”
“So for me, it was just stay simple,” he added. “I knew the type of hitter that I am and everything was going to be normal sooner rather than later.”
Cora saw a swing during Devers’ ninth inning plate appearance Monday that showed the slugger might be turning a corner. He fouled off the fifth pitch, a 97.8 mph sinker, to left field before walking on the sixth pitch.
“The at-bats are getting better,” Cora said. “He walked twice the other day. The foul ball he hit, that one caught my attention. Today he put some good swings on it. Got a breaking ball in the zone, put a good swing. And then the line drive we’ve been looking for (the first) five days. The one the other way. He stayed with the lefty. He hit it hard that way. Did an outstanding job.”
Devers entered 6-for-16 with two homers, three doubles and five strikeouts in his career against Eflin.
“He can hit whoever. It’s just a matter of where we’re at mechanically,” Cora said. “He’s a little bit off. But little by little, the more pitches he sees. I don’t know how many pitches he saw two days ago. There were a lot. And the timing will be there and we are gonna be OK.”
