Rafael Devers experienced an MLB rite of passage he won't soon forget Thursday night.
Devers' chopper over the head of second baseman Lourdes Gurriel Jr. with one out in the ninth inning was a game-winner for the Boston Red Sox, who walked off with a much-needed 7-6 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays at Fenway Park.
Devers' single was the first walk-off hit of his young Red Sox career, and as is tradition, his teammates tracked him down to give him a mini-beatdown.
Fortunately, the adrenaline masked any pain the 22-year-old third baseman may have absorbed.
"I didn’t feel anything at all," I was just super happy out there celebrating with my teammates," Devers said through a translator after the win, via MassLive.com. "Maybe tomorrow I’ll feel the pain from the punches but today it felt good."
Devers felt a little relief, too, considering the walk-off RBI was his first of the season amid a rough start to 2019.
"I wasn’t frustrated at all,” Devers added. “I knew at some point I was going to have runners at scoring position and I was going to be able to do my job."
Boston Red Sox
Devers delivered when Boston needed it most Thursday, becoming the youngest Red Sox player since Xander Bogaerts (the man who got to him first in the celebration) in 2014 to record a walk-off hit.
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