BOSTON -- Gerrit Cole shut down eight of the nine hitters in the Red Sox lineup -- good enough to lead the New York Yankees to a 6-5 victory over Boston on Thursday night.
And then there was Rafael Devers.
The Red Sox third baseman made a final push to be added to the AL All-Star roster by homering twice off the Yankees ace, delivering two of Boston's five hits and all five of the RBI. In his career, he has a .304 average with 6 home runs in 23 at-bats against Cole.
"I'm open for suggestions," the Yankees right-hander said to reporters afterward. "It's pretty wild. He's just been able to hit every(thing), there hasn't been a miss-hit. Like, roll over one time. Like, line out one time.
"You're supposed to fail seven out of 10 times in this gig. I don't know what the deal is," he said. "We'll just have to just keep at it, man."
Josh Donaldson homered for the second consecutive game, hitting a grand slam in the third, and Aaron Hicks homered on the very next pitch to stake Cole to a 5-0 lead. Hicks also tripled in the fifth and scored to make it 6-2 before Devers' second home run brought Boston within one run.
"It's great pitcher against a great hitter," Yankees Manager Aaron Boone said. "And he's had some success, obviously."
Entering the game tied for second in the AL East -- but 14 games behind the first-place Yankees -- the Red Sox fell behind 5-0 in the third before Devers' two-run shot in the bottom half. The Yankees led 6-2 in the fifth with Devers due up again -- time for a meeting on the mound.
"We said 'Homer doesn't beat us right here. So, you know, let's just go make our pitches,' " Cole said. "And, you know, we made our pitches and gave up a homer, but they didn't beat us."
In all, Cole was charged with 5 runs on 5 hits and 3 walks while striking out 7.
ASTROS 5, ROYALS 2 Justin Verlander (11-3) got his MLB-leading 11th win, Yordan Alvarez hit his 26th home run and Houston beat Kansas City. Jose Altuve added a home run and three RBI for the Astros, who bounced back after a 7-4 loss Wednesday night that snapped an eight-game winning streak.
ORIOLES 4, ANGELS 1 Rookie Adley Rutschman hit his first home run at Camden Yards and Baltimore extended its winning streak to a season-best five games, beating Los Angeles.
TIGERS 2, WHITE SOX 1 Rookie Beau Brieske (2-6) tossed two-hit ball into the seventh inning while outpitching Dylan Cease, Javier Baez homered and Detroit hung on to beat Chicago.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
CARDINALS 3, BRAVES 2 (11) Dylan Carlson hit a tiebreaking single in the top of the 11th inning, and St. Louis beat Atlanta to snap its four-game losing streak.
METS 10, MARLINS 0 J.D. Davis hit his first major league grand slam, James McCann (Arkansas Razorbacks) launched a three-run home run and New York routed Miami behind a splendid start from Trevor Williams (2-5). Davis set a career high with five RBI.
PHILLIES 5, NATIONALS 3 Darick Hall homered, doubled and drove in two runs, and Philadelphia took two of three from last-place Washington. Nick Nelson (3-1) gave up one hit in two scoreless innings in relief of starter Bailey Falter. Seranthony Dominguez worked a perfect ninth for his third save in four chances.
PIRATES 4-1, REDS 2-5 Jonathan India hit a go-ahead single, Brandon Drury added a two-run triple and Cincinnati beat Pittsburgh to split a doubleheader. Pittsburgh won the opener behind rookie starter Roansy Contreras (3-20, who allowed one run in six innings. In the second game, India snapped a 1-1 tie with his two-out single in the seventh inning off Bryse Wilson, which followed an error by second baseman Josh VanMeter that allowed Nick Senzel to reach. Drury followed against reliever Chris Stratton and hit a line drive that eluded right fielder Ben Gamel's diving effort and rolled to the wall for a triple.
Thursday’s games
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Pittsburgh 4-1, Cincinnati 2-5
Philadelphia 5, Washington 3
NY Mets 10, Miami 0
St. Louis 3, Atlanta 2 (11)
Colorado at Arizona, (n)
San Francisco at San Diego, (n)
Chicago Cubs at LA Dodgers, (n)
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Houston 5, Kansas City 2
Baltimore 4, LA Angels 1
NY Yankees 6, Boston 5
Detroit 2, Chicago White Sox 1
Toronto at Seattle, (n)