SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — For Rafael Devers, his first home run for San Francisco felt similar to the 215 he hit for Boston — even if this one came against the Red Sox just six days after his surprising trade to the Giants.
Devers delighted his new fans in San Francisco when he connected for a two-run homer against his former team on Saturday to help fuel a 3-2 win for the Giants.
“Nothing more special than any other home run that I hit,” he said through an interpreter. “I’m just here and happy that I was able to contribute for the team’s win.”
Devers began his first series against the Red Sox by going 0 for 5 on Friday night and grounding out in his first at-bat Saturday. He then delivered just what his new team had been expecting when he hit an opposite-field drive off Brayan Bello over the left-field fence for a two-run homer in the third inning.
“That’s kind of typical him too, just let it travel and catch it late and block it out to left field,” manager Bob Melvin said. “He’s done it so many times in Boston. This park kind of plays that way to lefties as well. I think to get that one off his back, feels good about that, obviously being incredibly impactful in the outcome of the game. Now he can settle in and do his thing.”
Devers got loud cheers from the Oracle Park crowd of 39,027 as he rounded the bases for his 216th career home run that just happened to be caught by a fan in a Red Sox T-shirt.
“As soon as he hit it, you kind of feel almost a little weight fell off his shoulders when he hit that ball,” Giants starter Landen Roupp said. “You could just see it. We expect many more from him in that area. Really excited to have him on the team and he will be a huge help.”
Devers became the 10th player to homer for and against the same team in a span of seven days or fewer, according to Sportradar. The last player to do it was Abraham Toro, who homered for Houston against Seattle on July 26, 2021, and then for the Mariners against the Astros the next day.
This is the third time it happened with a player traded by the Red Sox. Don Lenhardt and Walt Dropo both did it in 1952, with their homers for Detroit against Boston coming in the same game on June 6 that season, three days after they were traded together in an eight-player deal.
Devers also joined Willie Mays, Jimmie Foxx and four other players who hit their first 200 career homers with one team and then had their first homer on their new team come against their former team.
Devers was traded by Boston less than two years into a 10-year, $313.5 million contract extension that he signed in 2023.
Devers’ relationship with the Red Sox began to deteriorate when the team signed Gold Glove third baseman Alex Bregman during spring training and asked Devers to move to DH; he balked before agreeing to the switch. When first baseman Triston Casas sustained a season-ending knee injury, the Red Sox approached Devers about playing the field and he declined, saying the front office “should do their jobs” and look for another player.
A day after Devers’ comments to the media about playing first, Red Sox owner John Henry, team president Sam Kennedy and chief baseball officer Craig Breslow flew to Kansas City to meet with Devers and manager Alex Cora.
Devers’ stance didn’t change and he was eventually traded to San Francisco where he is practicing at first base to play there later this season. Devers said Friday that he wouldn’t have done anything differently in his time in Boston, adding that he was as happy as he has been in years after joining the Giants.
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