Devers dominant when facing Yankees' ace

BOSTON -- Rafael Devers took two nights off with an ailing back and right hamstring, but he came back just in time to destroy Yankees ace Gerrit Cole once again.

The only regret for Boston’s star slugger is that his monster performance (two homers, five RBIs) came in a 6-5 loss to the Yankees in Thursday night’s opener of a four-game series at Fenway Park.

That’s right: The score was essentially Yankees 6, Devers 5.

• Box score

With the Red Sox down 5-0 in the third inning, Devers took it upon himself to create another tense rivalry matchup that went down to the wire.

“It was a good night individually, but I cannot feel happy about tonight because we lost, and that’s something that goes beyond everything else,” Devers said. “This is a team sport, and we lost and I feel bad about tonight.”

The team-first attitude from the most impactful hitter on the Red Sox is admirable, but there isn’t anything Devers could really feel bad about.

In fact, he can’t help but feel good when he faces Cole, who signed a $324 million contract to come to the Yankees prior to the 2020 season.

When the power-hitting Devers faces the power-pitching Cole, Devers is the one who is money.

In 23 career at-bats and 25 plate appearances against Cole, Devers has six homers. No other player has hit more than four homers off him.

It is dominance like that against a fellow star that could land Devers the starting nod at third base for the American League when the lineups for both leagues are announced on Friday. Voting goes until 2 p.m. ET. Devers and Cleveland’s José Ramírez are the two AL finalists at the hot corner.

“I want to thank all the fans who have voted for me, and I appreciate their help and I’m happy for that,” Devers said.

If Devers doesn’t get in as a starter, he is a lock to get in as a reserve, and it’s fairly safe to guess that Cole gave him a vote.

At this point, Cole is flummoxed at how to keep Devers in the ballpark.

“I'm open for suggestions, because you're all watching the game too,” Cole said. “It's pretty wild. He's just been able to hit everything. There just hasn't been a mis-hit. Roll over one time. Line out one time. You’re supposed to fail seven out of 10 times in this game. I don't know what the deal is. We'll just have to keep at it, man.”

It’s not like Devers is just crushing misfires from Cole.

His two-run shot to right in the third was on a pitch that was out of the strike zone, low and on the inner half. Devers smoked the 89.6 mph slider at an exit velocity of 110.6 mph and a Statcast-projected distance of 434 feet.

Two innings later, with the Yankees up 6-2, Devers mauled one into the bleachers in center for a three-run shot, sending a packed house of 36,876 at Fenway Park into a frenzy. That offering, a 1-0 changeup, was also a ball, low and on the outer half of the plate. The 19th homer of the season for Devers left his bat at 107.4 mph and soared a projected distance of 425 feet.

By the time Devers took his next at-bat, Cole was out of the game and lefty Wandy Peralta induced a grounder to short to lead off the eighth.

If there is some key to the success Devers has against Cole, he’s not about to divulge it.

“Yeah, nothing special, I just see him as a normal pitcher,” Devers said. “I’m just trying to look for my pitch and try to do damage in the zone.”

It’s not as if Cole is the only Yankees pitcher Devers can tee off against. Devers has 16 career homers against Boston’s archrival. The only Red Sox player to hit more against the Yankees by age 25 or younger? A guy named Ted Williams, who had 20. Babe Ruth is third, with 12.

“He’s that good,” said Red Sox manager Alex Cora. “Raffy is a good player. Hopefully he’ll be starting at Dodger Stadium in a few weeks. The stage, he doesn’t get caught up in the whole thing. He enjoys playing baseball and helping his team win. He’s a special player and special hitter.”