Rafael Devers homers in return, but Red Sox rally past Giants in opener

Mac Cerullo, Boston Herald on Aug 21, 2026

Published in Baseball

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BOSTON — What kind of reception would Rafael Devers receive in his first game back at Fenway Park?

Over nine years in Boston Devers was among the most productive young players in Red Sox franchise history, and normally when a player like that comes back they receive a heroes welcome. But Devers’ legacy in Boston is complicated, so it’s fitting his return proved equally complex.

Devers homered in his first game back with the San Francisco Giants, drawing appreciative cheers and loud, sustained boos every time he stepped to the plate. But as has often been the case since his departure, the Red Sox did fine without him, and on Friday the club rallied for five runs in the third inning to beat the Giants, 6-4, in the series opener.

Willson Contreras delivered the haymaker, crushing the longest home run by a Red Sox player at Fenway Park this season to put the club ahead for good.

Devers initially drew cheers and boos when his name was announced during pregame lineups and again when he stepped to the plate for his first at bat. The reaction was much more uniform when Devers’ at-bat concluded, with the crowd cheering loudly after he struck out.

Devers did factor into San Francisco’s first scoring chance in his next plate appearance, drawing a walk in the third inning to put two on with one out. The Giants took the lead two batters later on rookie slugger Bryce Eldridge’s RBI single, but Red Sox starter Sonny Gray limited the damage from there despite walking Jung Hoo Lee to load the bases.

Osleivis Basabe delivered a scare to the crowd when he hit a two-out rocket to the center-field warning track, but the ball didn’t have quite enough and Ceddanne Rafaela made the catch to end the inning.

Then the Red Sox hit back, and they hit back hard.

Boston sent 11 men to the plate in what wound up being a five-run bottom of the third. The damage came in two chunks, first when Contreras hit perhaps the most eye-popping home runs seen at Fenway Park all season, and then after Giants ace Logan Webb completely lost the plot.

First, Nick Sogard walked and Wilyer Abreu singled to set up Contreras, who put the Red Sox in front by effectively vaporizing an 85.2-mph change-up. The ball flew 450 feet, clearing the Green Monster and landing on the other side of Lansdowne Street, and was measured at 116 mph off the bat.

Then, when Red Sox re-loaded the bases with two singles and a hit batsman, Webb drove in two more runs by walking Andruw Monasterio and hitting Mickey Gasper to put Boston ahead 5-1.

That was it for Webb, who departed after only 2 2/3 innings having allowed five runs on six hits, three walks, two hit batsman and only two strikeouts. It was his shortest outing of the season and the fifth time he’s allowed five or more runs in an outing this season.

Reliever Reiver Sanmartin came on to keep things from spiraling any further by drawing an inning-ending fielder’s choice, and that proved crucial when the Giants immediately came back with three more runs in the fourth.

Gray got two quick strikeouts to start the inning but then gave up a double to former Red Sox prospect Christian Koss and a two-run homer to Drew Gilbert.

Then, up stepped Devers, who hit a solo home run to go back-to-back with Gilbert and make it a 5-4 game. It was Devers’ 96th career home run at Fenway Park, and his first as a visiting player.

Ironically, Devers also homered in his last game at Fenway Park, which happened to be the day he was traded.

Gray settled back down and retired the last seven batters he faced, ultimately finishing an outing that wasn’t his best but was good enough. Gray went six innings, allowed four runs on seven hits with two walks and struck out six.

The Red Sox picked up an insurance run in the sixth on a brutal misplay in right field by Lee, who misread a rocket off the bat of Abreu and couldn’t recover in time to stop the ball from flying over his head for an RBI triple.

From there the Red Sox bullpen did its thing. Erik Miller threw a scoreless seventh, drawing a groundout from Devers in his last at bat, Alec Gamboa threw a perfect eight and Aroldis Chapman finished the job in the ninth to earn his 28th save of the season.

Chapman struck out Jonah Cox to end the game with Devers standing on deck.

The Red Sox (69-59) are now back to 10 games over .500 and will have a chance to clinch their second consecutive series victory with another win this weekend. Patrick Sandoval (1-2, 4.76) is scheduled to take the mound for Boston against Giants right-hander Blade Tidwell (0-0, 4.33) for the prime-time 7:15 p.m. matchup on Fox.