BOSTON -- After losing their starting pitcher just five outs into the night, the Red Sox rallied to pick up Hunter Dobbins with a walk-off win over the Rays on Friday.
Facing Rays closer Pete Fairbanks, Roman Anthony drew a five-pitch walk before Ceddanne Rafaela hit a two-run homer over the Green Monster to give the Red Sox a 5-4 win and their eighth straight victory.
“I faced him the last time they were here, and he threw me one [breaking ball] that I didn't swing [at],” Rafaela said. “And since then, I wanted to see that [breaking ball] again. He's a great pitcher. He threw a great pitch, I made a good swing.”
Rafaela didn’t see another curveball from Fairbanks, but he sent a 1-2 slider a Statcast-projected 406 feet to left-center to tag the right-hander for his first homer this season.
“Hats off to him,” Fairbanks said. “Good at-bat. I think if I don't throw the slider there to Rafaela, we might have a different result. But with how his body wants to let him swing, that's right where he likes to hit the ball. And if you throw it where somebody likes to hit the ball, when they're seeing it well, you get bad results.”
To say that Rafaela is seeing the ball well would be putting it lightly. In his last 15 games, the 24-year-old is hitting .339 with five homers and 16 RBIs. His ninth-inning at-bat encapsulated adjustments he made in the offseason in order to become a more effective breaking-ball hitter. And as the No. 9 hitter, Rafaela represents just one piece of a lineup that’s contributing from top to bottom.
The ninth-inning rally started with a strong at-bat from Anthony, who entered as pinch-hitter to face Fairbanks. The 21-year-old No. 1 overall prospect worked a 3-1 count before drawing his 14th walk in 29 games.
“It was Marcelo [Mayer], Roman and Rafaela,” manager Alex Cora said. “That's pretty young. The future of this organization is bright -- the present is bright, too. Today was a great game, and it's a great team. [Dobbins] got hurt, the bullpen did an amazing job, gave us a chance and we kept putting pressure on them.”
Rafaela helped turn the mood around at Fenway on an up-and-down day for the Red Sox that saw Alex Bregman return to the lineup shortly before Dobbins exited the game with right knee pain in his first start off the injured list.
With one out in the second, Dobbins ran to cover first on a groundout by Chandler Simpson. After making the play on a feed from first baseman Abraham Toro, Dobbins hobbled down the first-base line and grabbed his right leg, prompting trainers and Cora to come out.
Dobbins made his way over to the mound, threw one warmup pitch and left the game. Jorge Alcala took over for Dobbins and worked his way around a double to get out of the inning.
The right-hander was placed on the injured list on June 22 (retroactive to June 21) with a right elbow strain. He made one rehab start with Double-A Portland, giving up one run over five innings and striking out eight on July 5.
Dobbins was not available postgame, and Cora said they were waiting for more information on his status.
“Not much yet,” Cora said. “He said he felt it when he jumped for the throw and when he landed. So we'll see.”
While the Red Sox wait for news on Dobbins, they’ll do so riding the longest active win streak in the Majors. Perhaps more importantly, it seems they’ve finally flipped the script on their Fenway Park woes of the past with a 30-20 (.600) record at home so far this year after sitting below .500 at home the past two seasons (38-43 in 2024 and 39-42 in '23).
“They're locked in in the dugout,” Cora said. “And you guys know how I feel about this: This thing tonight was real, and we appreciate that. [The fans] got here early, I think they did the wave once, which is good. And it was very loud, very loud. And that's what we're trying to accomplish. It was on us to make this place uncomfortable. And tonight was uncomfortable. You could feel it. And we appreciate that.”