Red Sox's Brayan Bello: Yankees' Cole Showed 'Weakness' Intentionally Walking Devers

Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Brayan Bello took exception to New York Yankees starting pitcher Gerrit Cole walking Rafael Devers after previously hitting him with a pitch.

Bello called out Cole for the move after the Red Sox beat the Yankees 7-1 on Saturday afternoon.

"I don't know what to tell you," Bello said, per MLB.com's Ian Browne. "I felt like it showed a lot of weakness."

Devers also called out Cole, saying he expected more from a pitcher of his caliber.

"He caught me by surprise," Devers said via the Red Sox's translator, per The Athletic's Chris Kirschner. "I didn't expect that from a future Hall of Famer and, to say it one way, I feel like he panicked a little bit."

Additionally, Red Sox manager Alex Cora accused Cole of hitting Devers with a pitch on purpose before he was intentionally walked.

"I felt like the first at-bat he hit him on purpose," Cora said told reporters. "He doesn't want to face him. That's the bottom line. He told us with the intentional walk that the first at-bat he hit him."

After the game, Cole explained that the Yankees had planned over the last few days to walk Devers "because of the past success that he's had."

New York led 1-0 and had one out in the top of the fourth when Cole intentionally walked Devers, but the Red Sox scored three runs to take the lead following the walk. Cole said the game plan failed because he didn't execute well on the mound.

"We were in the tunnel before the inning and discussed that if (Jarren) Duran was retired we were going to stick to aggressively walking, and that was the plan," Cole said. "During the inning, I looked to the dugout and stuck with the plan. If I make pitches after that and continue to execute at a high level, then the plan works, but the plan didn't work. I need to make better pitches afterward in order for it to work."

In his next at-bat, Devers singled to right, driving in a pair of runs to bolster the Red Sox's lead to 5-1.

Devers has had a strong season with 28 homers, 83 RBI and a .278 average through 133 games. He's upped his game when facing the Yankees this season, notching three home runs, 11 RBI and a .326 batting average in 12 games against Boston's rival in 2024, per Stat Muse.

While Boston picked up a crucial 7-1 win against the Yankees on Saturday, it dropped the first two games of the series and still sits four games back from the American League wild-card slot. The Red Sox and Yankees will face off for the final time this season on Sunday.