And on the 27th year and 200th day Rafael Devers has been on this planet it finally arrived ... the hitter in front of him was intentionally walked (or so Devers thought).
The moment happened in the eighth inning of what would be the Red Sox' 4-2 win over the Nationals at Fenway Park Saturday. Washington manager Dave Martinez decided the best course of action with a runner on second base and two outs with the game tied would be to give a free pass to right-handed hitter Tyler O'Neill with lefty reliever Robert Garcia on the mound.
It just so happened that Devers was the guy Martinez was choosing to pitch to.
If the move seemed foreign that's because it was, especially to the primary participant, Devers. It was, after all, the first time in his life an opposing manager actually chose to pitch to him.
"Yes, I was a little bit surprised," Devers said. "But he’s the manager and makes the decisions but in the moment I was very surprised."
Judging by the result, it also might be the last time such a move is made, at least for some time.
After starting Devers off with a slider, Garcia game in with six straight mid-90's fastballs, the final one coming in low and slightly inside. The Sox cleanup hitter took the 96 mph heater and rifled a 108.5 mph line-drive over the head of left fielder Eddie Rosario to break the tie by plating both Romy Gonzalez and O'Neill.
Devers downplayed any added motivation the move might have surfaced, but it was difficult to ignore the nodding of his head slightly before facing off with Garcia and the emotion displayed once at second base.
"Not really," Devers said when asked if the intentional walk amped him up a bit more. "Those are baseball decisions. Tyler is a right-handed batter. I’m lefty so if I’m a manager some day I might make the same decision."
"That’s big guts," said Red Sox closer Kenley Jansen, who came on to pitch a 1-2-3 ninth for the save. "That’s all I can say. I don’t care, he’s still one of the best hitters on the team and to see that, it’s impressive.
"Give credit to them. Big guts. Raffy put a tough bat on, found a hole and went the other way. As a pitcher, being on that side, you just have to tip your cap. He beat him opposite (field)."
The circumstance was shades of a move made by the Rangers in 2013 when they intentionally walked Dustin Pedroia to get to David Ortiz, who promptly hit a walk-off three-run homer of lefty reliever Michael Kirkman.
"I don't know what the game plan was right there but that's not really the guy you want to go after in that situation," former Red Sox pitcher Jon Lester said after that game. "He's done it plenty of times before for us."
While Devers hasn't reached Ortiz's status when it comes to having a reputation for coming through in the clutch, this is still one of the perceived most feared hitters in the game.
Maybe it was because Devers had fell into a bit of a rut with runners in scoring position of late, going hitless in his previous six tries with three strikeouts. Perhaps it was because of the lefty-on-lefty dynamic. Or maybe they were planning on simply having Devers chase, ready to live with another free pass with the struggling Vaughn Grissom on deck.
Whatever the case, this highlighted the importance of Devers to a lineup that desperately has been looking for this kind of hero. Going 4-for-46 with runners in scoring position in your previous six losses will do that.
"It changed my expression," said Red Sox manager Alex Cora when asked if he saw a change in Devers' demeanor once the intentional walk decision was made. "I was like, 'Let’s go, go get ‘em.'"
"I was ready," Devers said. "Me as a hitter, I’m ready to hit any pitch, I’m out there to swing obviously and throughout my career I’ve been pitched a lot of fastballs. Everybody knows I’m a good breaking ball hitter. He obviously surprised me with the fastball but I was able to hit the ball."
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