The story of Rafael Devers' weekend in Cleveland was primarily the two homers he blasted on Sunday and manager Alex Cora's contention that the young slugger deserves more national recognition.
But there was a side plot, too -- what exactly happened with Indians starter Cal Quantrill on Saturday?
Devers is expressive in the batter's box, but he generally aims his criticisms inward. On Saturday, however, he stood at the plate and stared Quantrill all the way back to the dugout after the right-hander struck him out to end the sixth and unleashed a series of screams and fist pumps.
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Devers responded with two hits thereafter in a 5-3 win, and then added the two homers in Sunday's 7-5 loss. He's now hitting .277 with 32 homers, 96 RBIs, and a .908 OPS.
He downplayed any lingering bad feelings, but did note the two clubs will meet again shortly, next weekend in Boston.
"It wasn't anything like that," Devers said. "I appreciate the fact that when I hit a home run, I'm going to do what I do. He got me this one at-bat, he struck me out, and he's going to do what he does. We might see him down the road again. We might see him next week. If I hit a home run, then I'll probably do what I do."
Boston Red Sox
It appeared that Devers would have the last laugh on Sunday after blasting solo shots of 371 and 448 feet, but the Red Sox bullpen couldn't protect a 4-0 lead and Devers ended up grounding out sharply to end it.
Afterward, he dismissed the notion that Quantrill had lit a fire under him.
"It wasn't anything to pump me up or anything," he said. "He got me this one at-bat and he deserved to do what he did."