WATCH: Yankees ace Gerrit Cole pays ultimate compliment to Rafael Devers, intentionally walks Red Sox slugger with bases empty

Rafael Devers received the highest praise from one of his most respected rivals as Gerrit Cole intentionally walked him with the bases on empty when the Boston Red Sox played against the New York Yankees on Saturday afternoon. Devers has an imperious record against the Yankees pitcher; therefore, Cole limited any severe damage by simply offering him a free base.

A short video of the surprising intentional walk was shared by MLB through its official profile on X.

On Saturday, the Yankees hosted the Red Sox for the third encounter of their four-game set in the Bronx. Gerrit Cole started on the mound for the home team, who had won the opening two games of the series.

In the top of the fourth inning, Rafael Devers came to the plate for the Red Sox with no runners on and one out, while the Yankees had put up a one-run lead in the previous inning.

Devers got ready inside the batter's box to face his first pitch of the at-bat when Cole suddenly stepped off the rubber. The Yankees ace looked at the batter as he raised his right arm before sticking out four fingers and pointing towards first base to signal an intentional walk.

The decision to walk Rafael Devers was made solely by Gerrit Cole, and it left the home fans and manager quite exasperated. Devers has batted .350/.435/.975 over his career against going 14-40 in 46 plate appearances, with eight home runs and an OPS of 1.410. The Yankees pitcher had already offered him a free pass when he hit the Red Sox slugger in the first inning of the game.

Intentional walk to Rafael Devers proves costly for Gerrit Cole

The intentional walk to Rafael Devers turned out to be very expensive for the Yankees ace (Photo Credit: IMAGN)

Offering an intentional base on balls to Rafael Devers even with the bases empty may have seemed a wise decision on Gerrit Cole's part, based on the past record between the pair. However, the Yankees ace could not control the situation that unfolded after it and ultimately had to pay a heavy price for walking the Red Sox batter.

Gerrit Cole could not prevent Rafael Devers from stealing second base before he ended up walking the next batter, Tyler O'Neill. In the next at-bat, he surrendered a ground rule double to Masataka Yoshida that allowed Devers to score and tie the game while O'Neill advanced to third base.

That brought Wilyer Abreu to the plate to face Gerrit Cole with runners in scoring positions. Abreu managed to hit a single out to right field, which drove in O'Neill and Yoshida, thereby allowing the visitors to take a 3-1 lead. Cole allowed four more runs to be scored in the following inning, and the home team eventually crumbled to a 7-1 defeat.

The Yankees will now look to clinch the series with another victory against the Red Sox in the final game on Sunday.