Devers does it all in return to lineup

HOUSTON -- It isn’t very often that Rafael Devers can fly under the radar. But with most of the pregame focus on Tuesday surrounding the Trade Deadline, Boston’s star third baseman made his return from the injured list almost under the cover of darkness.

That was, until the game started, and Devers started taking the type of lethal cuts the Red Sox missed during the 10 games he missed while nursing inflammation in his right hamstring.

The score at Minute Maid Park on Tuesday night? Devers 2, Astros 1.

In actuality, it was Red Sox 2, Astros 1, but it was Devers who took the two swings that made the difference in a game that gave the Red Sox their first series win since June 24-26 at Cleveland.

With the Sox down 1-0 in the top of the fourth, Devers bashed a 113.3-mph drive down the line in right for a double that scored one of his new teammates, Tommy Pham, all the way from first.

And one at-bat later, with two outs in the sixth, Devers unloaded and ripped one high and deep to right for the solo shot against Cristian Javier that put the Red Sox ahead. Not only did Devers look in midseason form with his swing, he also looked back in rhythm with his bat flip and his prolonged trot around the bases. It was No. 23 on the season for the gifted left-handed hitter.

“That was a great at-bat,” said Red Sox manager Alex Cora. “Took a fastball, three changeups in a row. Then they went back with the fastball. He said he missed it. I don’t know.”

Yes, Devers claims he mishit the pitch that left his bat at 108.4-mph and traveled a projected distance of 371 feet. Everyone should miss a 94-mph fastball like that.

“Yeah, the ball beat me up a little bit so I didn’t hit it how I wanted to hit it,” said Devers. “But I got it pretty well.”

The timing of the third baseman’s return couldn’t have been better. On Monday, the Red Sox traded popular core veteran Christian Vázquez to the Astros while adding Tommy Pham and Reese McGuire in separate deals. And on Tuesday, Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom was able to get a veteran first baseman with a World Series-winning pedigree in Eric Hosmer.

This is a bit of a reset period for the Red Sox, and Devers will be at the centerpiece of the team’s playoff push.

Though 53-52 Boston is in fifth place in the American League East, the team’s deficit in the Wild Card standings is just two games.

And if Tuesday was any indication, Devers isn’t going to need any time to get back in the groove he’s been in just about all season.

“Yeah, the timing never went away,” said Devers. “I kept my swing on time and just stayed hitting off the machine and hitting BP while I was down on the injury list.”

Though Devers spent the minimum amount of time on the injured list, it felt longer due to the Red Sox stumbling to the point where it looked like they could fall out of the race and lead Bloom to be an aggressive seller at the Trade Deadline.

Instead, Devers was back in the mix with the veteran core he has played with the last several years still intact, except for Vázquez.

“Yeah, it felt really long, it felt like one, two months there [on the injured list],” said Devers. “For me, it was a really long time and I couldn’t wait to be on the field and help the guys win some games.”

The best way to describe the return of Devers was two words: sudden impact.

“Yeah, it feels good,” Devers said. “It was very positive I was able to contribute right off the bat, and we have only a couple of months remaining in the regular season, so every game that we can win is very positive for us, so that’s what we’re trying to do.”