Rafael Devers’ strikeouts piling up as Red Sox lose to Rangers

After just two games, it's evident that Red Sox slugger Rafael Devers is struggling at the plate.

He was hitless on Opening Day with three strikeouts and went 0-for-4, with four strikeouts in the Red Sox' 4-1 loss to the Rangers on Friday night. Devers has swung and missed 14 times over the course of two days, and he is currently 0-for-8 with seven strikeouts.

“It’s only been two games,” Devers told reporters through team translator Carlos Villoria. “I feel comfortable at the plate. I feel good. I haven’t hit the ball but I feel very good. It’s only been two games and I feel everything will change. … I know that I haven’t done my job and I haven’t done what I’m supposed to do. I know that will change.”

In the seventh inning, trailing Texas by three runs, Devers had a chance to begin and break out of his mini-slump when he faced Rangers southpaw Hoby Milner with the bases loaded and one out. Instead, he whiffed on an 89 mph fastball, failing to cash in on a key moment for the Sox.

He has now left five men on base while seeing just 46 pitches over the span of his at-bats, swinging and missing at 13 pitches. 

“Not catching up with fastballs,” Alex Cora told reporters following the game. “Very simple. 3-2 counts, the at-bats are OK, right? Not being able to catch up.”

Devers only had just 15 plate appearances during spring training, though Cora wouldn’t allow that to be an excuse for Devers given Wilyer Abreu’s early production after a 1-for-20 run in Grapefruit League play.

“There’s a lot of work in the cage,” Cora said. “Machine work, angle work, and all that stuff they do over there. This is something that sometimes happens. It just happened in two games. We’ve seen it happen before. At some point, he’s going to catch up with one.”

'HE’S THE DH OF THE BOSTON RED SOX'

Where Devers was going to play dominated the headlines this spring. It was announced before the start of the season that Alex Bregman would be the team’s third baseman, and Devers would be exclusively penciled in as the designated hitter.

After taking grounders at third base before each of the last two games, it prompted the question as to whether Devers would play his natural position if Bregman needed a day off.

“No. Raffy is going to DH,” Cora said when asked if Devers would play third on days that Bregman isn’t in the lineup. “We had a conversation; we talked about it. He’s DHing. He’s the DH of the Boston Red Sox.”

Cora informed the media that he will use Romy Gonzalez at third base to provide Bregman with a break. He also expressed that he is not concerned about Devers and that no one should overreact to a single poor performance. He’s now had two bad games.

“I know people make a big deal out of yesterday, but I don’t think that’s the first 0 for 4 that he’s had,” Cora said. “He’s working with (assistant hitting coach Ben Rosenthal) in the cage, and the last six years we’ve seen some DHs with routines; one of them, he hit a lot, the other one didn’t hit, so he’ll find it. We don’t want him to overthink it; don’t get caught up with the whole thing. He’ll be ok.”

Devers was asked if his performance had anything to do with him still feeling bitter over losing his position to Bregman and being forced to DH.

“That’s in the past, that was in spring training, right now we’re in the season and I’m a DH,” Devers said. “I feel like you guys need to change the subject because that is over and I’m the DH.”

MIXED BAG

Tanner Houck’s season debut was similar to Garrett Crochet’s; it was ok, not overly sharp, but he kept his team in the game.

In this start, the right-hander demonstrated a marked improvement over his performance throughout the spring, during which he had an 11.20 ERA and seven strikeouts. His performance was not particularly impressive; he pitched for 5 2/3 innings, surrendering four runs on seven hits, three walks, and two strikeouts. He also surrendered two solo homers to Rangers catcher Johan Heim.

Houck allowed just 11 homers over the course of his 30 starts last season.

Houck was able to escape from several challenging situations as a result of the Red Sox's effective defense, which included two double plays. Bregman made a couple of difficult stops at third base, including receiving a throw from Ceddanne Rafaela, who threw out Wyatt Langford at third base on a Joc Pederson single.

Houck then permitted Jake Burger to hit a two-out RBI double down the left field line, which enabled Pederson to score from first. Burger’s clutch hit made it 3-1, which ended Houck’s night. Cora replaced the All-Star with Greg Weissert, who promptly surrendered an RBI single that scored Burger, thereby extending the Rangers' lead to 4-1.

“A lot better than what we saw in spring training,” Cora said of Houck’s performance. “Good fastball, he actually used some four-seamers too up in the zone, that’s something we’ve talked about to get some room down in the zone and I think overall he did a good job.”

ABREU STAYS HOT

Once the series concludes on Sunday, Abreu will probably plead with the team to not depart for Baltimore. After going 3-for-3 with two homers, three runs scored, and four RBI the previous night, Abreu scored an RBI single into center field off Rangers starter Jack Leiter in the fourth inning. 

He walked and singled twice to start the game and, after going 3-for-4, is now 5-for-6 with two walks and five RBIs.

According to the Red Sox, Abreu tied a franchise record in the expansion era (since 1961) by reaching base in seven straight plate appearances to reach a season (Christian Vazquez in 2017, Ted Cox in 1977).

He attempted to extend that streak in the top of the ninth but popped out to Marcus Semien in foul territory.

RED SOX NOTABLES

In his second big league game, Kristian Campbell went 2-for-4, Jarren Duran went 2-for-4 with a stolen base, and Bregman collected his first hit as a Red Sox member. He recorded his first hit as a Red Sox member with a sixth-inning single, resulting in a 1-for-4 performance.

Walker Buehler will make his Red Sox debut on Saturday, pitching in Game 3 of the series. He will be opposed by Rangers starter Tyler Mahle. The first pitch is scheduled at 7:05 p.m. ET.