The NESN cameras didn’t have to search long to find Rafael Devers after Willson Contreras launched a moonshot that changed the complexion of the game.
As Contreras celebrated his mammoth three-run homer wearing the Wally head in the Red Sox dugout, the broadcast quickly cut to Devers watching from the other side.
Devers returned to Fenway Park for the first time since his messy Father’s Day trade to San Francisco last summer and even homered in his return.
But on a night centered around his homecoming, it was Contreras and the Red Sox who ultimately had the last word in a 6-4 win over the Giants on Friday night.
Contreras supplied quite literally the biggest swing of the night.
With Boston trailing 1-0 in the third, Contreras crushed a three-run homer over the Green Monster that traveled 450 feet and left his bat at 116 mph.
Contreras’ blast also matched the hardest-hit home run of his career, equaling the mark he set with the Cubs against Milwaukee on May 31, 2022.
The 450-foot shot was also his longest home run since Aug. 11, 2023, when he was with the Cardinals and went deep against Kansas City.
The blast put Boston ahead 3-1 and helped chase Giants starter Logan Webb before the third inning was over. Webb entered with a 3.50 ERA but was tagged for five runs on six hits and three walks in just 2 2/3 innings.
Devers, of course, wasn’t going quietly in front of the Fenway Faithful.
His first trip to the plate since returning to Fenway produced a reception that leaned heavily toward boos, though some cheers could be heard throughout the ballpark.
The Red Sox waited until after the inning to play a tribute video honoring his nine seasons in Boston. This time the reception was warmer. Devers received a round of applause and acknowledged the crowd from the Giants dugout.
Whatever complicated feelings remain between Devers, the organization and Red Sox fans, there’s plenty of history there. Devers signed with Boston as a 17-year-old in 2013 and went on to hit .279 with an .859 OPS, 215 homers, 273 doubles and 696 RBI over 1,053 games with the club.
Devers has made it clear he has no regrets about how his Red Sox tenure ended.
“I don’t want to think about the past,” he said. “I don’t want to talk about the past. At the same time, we’re all men. We’re all grown-ups. We have to understand this is the business of baseball. At the same time, you make mistakes and you have to move on and mature.
“I feel really good,” he later added. “It has been a year and I think I have matured during that year. I think I have learned, as an athlete, that there’s things that are going to happen. What you have to do is just move forward and learn from that.”
In the fourth inning, he reminded everyone at Fenway of the hitter they once watched on a nightly basis.
Drew Gilbert homered off Sonny Gray before Devers stepped in and crushed a 412-foot solo shot to center. The back-to-back homers helped San Francisco cut Boston’s lead to 5-4.
Devers finished his return 1-for-3 with the homer and a walk.
Gray didn’t have his usual dominant stuff on Friday night. The right-hander allowed
