Ceddanne Rafaela hit a walk-off, two-run home run in the bottom of the ninth inning as the Boston Red Sox beat the Tampa Bay Rays 5-4 in the teams’ second of a four-game series on Friday night.
The Red Sox had been shut out and limited to just two hits over the four innings preceding the game-winner, but after Roman Anthony drew a pinch-hit walk, Rafaela crushed a one-out homer to deep left field off Rays reliever Pete Fairbanks (4-3).
Rafaela and Trevor Story each had multiple hits and Chris Murphy (2-0) pitched a scoreless ninth to earn the win for Boston, which has won eight straight and 10 of 11.
Rafaela has now scored a run and driven in one in seven consecutive games.
Red Sox starter Hunter Dobbins worked just 1 2/3 innings before exiting the game due to right knee pain. Dobbins came up limping after hitting the first base bag while covering for Abraham Toro on a close play.
Jonathan Aranda and Jake Mangum both had two hits and scored a run for Tampa Bay, which scored three unearned runs in the third inning and held a lead until the final pitch.
The Rays got three baserunners aboard in four batters against Dobbins in the first inning, taking a 1-0 lead on Junior Caminero’s RBI single through the left side that scored Yandy Diaz. In the second, Wilyer Abreu’s leadoff single turned into a game-tying run for the Red Sox as Rafaela hit a two-out single to right.
Three unearned runs to the record of Red Sox reliever Jorge Alcala brought the Rays back into the lead at 4-1 in the third.
Back-to-back hits by Aranda (double) and Mangum (single) set the table in the inning, and after back-to-back pop flies for outs, Jose Caballero reached on an error that allowed Aranda to score. A passed ball and a bases-loaded walk to Chandler Simpson also plated runs for Tampa Bay in the frame.
Drew Rasmussen, who came on in the third for Joe Boyle, gave up a walk to Abreu and a single to Story to set the table for back-to-back RBIs in the fourth. Marcelo Mayer doubled and Toro followed with a run-scoring grounder.
Six Boston relievers followed Dobbins. Brennan Bernardino covered the longest span with 2 1/3 innings of shutout ball.
–Field Level Media
