Gerrit Cole stuck out four fingers on his pitching hand , then pointed toward first base as Rafael Devers looked on incredulously. Having held the first 10 Red Sox batters hitless, the New York Yankees ace handed Boston's slumping star an intentional walk with no one on base.
Boston then walked all over Cole and the Yankees.
Devers scored in a three-run fourth inning and hit a two-run single in a four-run fifth that rallied the Red Sox over New York 7-1 on Saturday.
"They grabbed the momentum. It inspired them," Cole said. "I think, looking back, it's the wrong move."
Yankees manager Aaron Boone said he and Cole discussed in the leadup to the game being more aggressive in the use of international walks - Cole hadn't issued one in seven years. Cole said he talked out the possibility with pitching coach Matt Blake while in the tunnel before the fourth inning, viewing it as a way to get the starter deeper into the game on a day when the Yankees bullpen was thin.
