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Fox News
44 minutes ago
- Sport
- Fox News
Fenway Park's Pesky's Pole gifts Red Sox dramatic victory with record-setting short homer
Ceddanne Rafaela may just be thanking his lucky stars he plays his home games at Fenway Park. Rafaela used Pesky's Pole to his advantage on Wednesday afternoon to lift his Boston Red Sox to an 11-9 victory over the Los Angeles Angels. On the first pitch he saw in the bottom of the ninth, a 97-mph fastball, Rafaela swung and flew one down the right field line. But with the foul pole just 302 feet from home plate, it was enough to be a walk-off two-run homer. The ball traveled just 308 feet, the shortest walk-off shot in the Statcast era (since 2015). Obviously, it would only have been a home run at Fenway. The three shortest home runs ever tracked by Statcast have all been at Fenway Park, and Rafaela's shot is the third-shortest on record. The Angels blew 4-0, 7-5, 8-7 and 9-8 leads, with Rafael Devers bouncing a chopper between the gloves of second baseman Chris Taylor and shortstop Zach Neto behind second base to tie it 9-9 in the eighth. The Angels moved to 28-33, while the Sox are now 30-34. Each of the first three times the Red Sox scored, Los Angeles answered with runs of its own. But after walking Mike Trout to lead off the ninth, Cooper Criswell (1-0) got the next three batters out to give Boston a chance to walk it off. The pole, of course, is named after Johnny Pesky, who hit just 17 career home runs, but six of them occurred right around the pole. Follow Fox News Digital's sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
Boston Globe
an hour ago
- Sport
- Boston Globe
For once the Red Sox flip the script, but will it mean better days ahead?
Ceddanne Rafaela gets set to cross home plate and celebrate with his waiting teammates after hitting a two-run homer in the ninth to beat the Angles. Heather Diehl/For the Globe Discounting inside-the-park homers, it was the shortest home run in the majors this season and the shortest hit by a Red Sox player at Fenway Park since 2015 when Statcast started providing accurate measurements. Advertisement It also was the shortest walkoff home run in the majors since 2015 according to MLB research guru Sarah Langs. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up 'I couldn't see where it landed from where I was,' said Trevor Story, who was on deck. 'But then you heard the crowd reacting. What a great feeling.' The Sox trailed 4-0, 7-5, 8-7, and 9-8 but came back each time. Alex Cora used six of his eight relievers and four of his five bench players to chase down the Angels. Cora was morose after When Advertisement Then the comeback gained momentum as the bullpen allowed two runs over 7⅓ innings and gave Rafaela a chance to use Fenway to his advantage. Now the Sox have a day off before opening a three-game series against the Yankees on Friday night in the Bronx. Walker Buehler and The Sox need the day to reset their bullpen and their emotions. 'Maybe this game will get us going,' Romy Gonzalez said over the din of music playing in the clubhouse. Until one good victory leads to another and another after that, these Red Sox are not to be trusted. But it's worth remembering that the Mets were 28-36 after 64 games last season and finished the season in the National League Championship Series. Or that the Tigers were 31-33, then beat the Astros in the wild card before losing a five-game Division Series against the Guardians. The Padres were 32-32 and went on to nearly topple the Dodgers in the Division Series. That the Red Sox are 6-17 in games decided by one run can be viewed as their not being a team smart enough or resourceful enough to win close game. But it also means they're in close games. The Sox have actually outscored their opponents by 13 runs. Advertisement 'That's the frustrating part,' Story said. 'We've been in so many of those games we lost. If half of those go our way, we're in a much better spot. 'We need to play a little better, play a little cleaner and it'll start to go our way. We have to believe that.' The alternative is what, cash in the season before Father's Day and wait to see who gets traded and if Cora gets fired? There's no fun in that. 'To say that we needed this one is an understatement,' said Cora, whose mood had brightened considerably before the game. 'A lot of close games and they go the other way … It's the same game; it's the same script. Hopefully we can change it now.' Peter Abraham can be reached at
New York Times
an hour ago
- Sport
- New York Times
Ceddanne Rafaela's walk-off homer powers Red Sox to back-and-forth win over Angels
BOSTON — In a tie game in the bottom of the ninth, Ceddanne Rafalea swatted a ball down the right-field line toward Pesky's Pole. There was momentary confusion. Fair or foul? In a tense, back-and-forth affair, with the Red Sox in desperate need of a win, having battled back four separate times on Wednesday, the team poured out of its Fenway Park dugout in celebration, almost willing the ball to fair territory. Advertisement A crew chief review of the homer threatened to wipe out their exuberance. An overturned call post-celebration would have been in line with Boston's fortunes of late. But moments later, Rafaela's two-run homer was confirmed, catapulting the Red Sox to a wild 11-9 victory over the Los Angeles Angels. The win helped the Red Sox avoid being swept at Fenway for the first time this year. CEDDANNE FOR THE WIN! — Red Sox (@RedSox) June 4, 2025 'I was really happy, because we grinded today,' said a beaming Rafaela after the game. 'To win this game was huge for us.' The 308-foot homer down the line marked not only the shortest at Fenway Park by a Red Sox player but also the shortest walk-off homer in the majors in the Statcast era. 'It's Fenway, right?' manager Alex Cora said. 'Hopefully this gets us going. But to say that we needed this one is an understatement. A lot of close games and they go the other way. I'm tired of telling (bench coach) Ramón (Vázquez) in the eighth like, 'Here we go again.' It's the same game, it's the same script. So hopefully we can change it now.' The Red Sox lead the majors with 17 one-run losses and have been in an awful stretch of late. But on Wednesday, they showed a resilience they've too often lacked this season, battling back inning after inning. Perhaps there was some edge from a pre-game spat earlier in the afternoon as Angels starter Tyler Anderson and Red Sox first base coach José Flores got into a shouting match and had to be separated as players and coaches intervened. Cora wouldn't elaborate, but it was clear the Red Sox had reached a breaking point. 'Just baseball talk,' Cora said of the Anderson-Flores exchange. 'Disagreements that happened throughout the series and all that, but everything's good.' Whether or not that exchange or Cora saying the team isn't getting better after Tuesday's loss ignited the Red Sox to find another level on Wednesday, something clicked. Advertisement 'I think when he said that, he's right,' Rafaela said of Cora's comments the previous day. 'We are supposed to be better. That's not a lie or something. It's the truth.' At the outset of the game, the Red Sox had appeared to revert to familiar ways. The Angels recorded four straight hits off starter Lucas Giolito in the top of the first, culminating in a three-run homer from Taylor Ward to put the Red Sox in an early 4-0 hole. But Boston's lineup blitzed Angels starter José Soriano in the bottom of the inning. Wilyer Abreu hit a run-scoring single and Marcelo Mayer drew a bases-loaded walk before Abraham Toro singled to drive in a third run and David Hamilton smoked a two-run double to give the Red Sox a 5-4 lead. That was just the start of the first of Boston's comebacks on Tuesday. Giolito returned in the second but wasn't any better, coughing up three more runs and the lead before Cora lifted him in favor of Luis Guerrero. Giolito recorded just five outs and was booed off the mound. 'There's no excuse. It's super poor, I need to figure it the f— out,' Giolito said. 'This is the big leagues, you have to have a level of consistency so I'm going to work toward that.' 2 more in the 2nd 🫡 — Los Angeles Angels (@Angels) June 4, 2025 Down 7-5 in the fourth, the Red Sox battled back again. Rafael Devers struck out with the bases loaded, but Abreu clocked a sacrifice fly before Carlos Narváez slapped an RBI single to even the score at 7-7. With Giolito out early, Cora rotated through six relievers. Trusty Brennan Bernardino, who'd pitched eight games in 12 days before having three days off, gave up a leadoff single to Matthew Lugo to open the fifth. He tried to pick off Lugo, but an errant throw allowed Lugo to advance to second. Lugo then scored the go-ahead run on a Logan O'Hoppe single to give the Angels an 8-7 lead. Advertisement Boston once again responded. Narváez drew a one-out walk in the seventh and pinch hitter Romy Gonzalez followed with a bloop single to center. Narváez, with heads-up base running, advanced to third as the ball dropped between fielders. Gonzalez moved up to second. That aggressiveness allowed Narváez to score the tying run when Abraham Toro hit a game-tying sacrifice fly to deep center. But another trusted and overworked reliever faltered. Greg Weissert, who'd given up one run in his previous nine appearances, gave up a one-out double in the eighth and a single up the middle to give the Angels back the lead. The Red Sox, who so many times this season have lacked fight and finishing power, kept at it. Pinch hitter Trevor Story reached on an error at third in the bottom of the eighth. After Duran walked, Devers chopped a single up the middle to tie the game at 9-9 and set up Rafaela's heroics for the victory. 'I personally feel like it's just a matter of time before we get going and today was a good example of what we could do when we just try to put the ball in play and just play baseball,' Duran said. 'I keep saying it, but I'm just really proud of this team. How we fought. And we're able to come back, even though we got punched in the mouth we were able to punch back.' In a season in which the Red Sox have made their rock bottom deeper, Wednesday could have been a new nadir. Instead, the Red Sox are attempting to climb out of the deep hole they've dug themselves. A major challenge awaits. After taking Thursday off, the Red Sox will play the first three games against the New York Yankees in the Bronx. Wednesday's win was a big one for the team, but won't mean much if they can't build off it. 'They're all big,' Cora said. 'We go to New York, take that series, see where we at, and then we come home and hopefully play better here, but it starts in New York. We've just got to go over there and win the series.'
Washington Post
3 hours ago
- Sport
- Washington Post
Red Sox rally, then rally again for 11-9 win over Angels on Rafaela's walk-off homer
BOSTON — Ceddanne Rafaela curled a home run around the Pesky Pole in the bottom of the ninth inning on Wednesday and the Boston Red Sox rallied after trailing four different times to beat the Los Angeles Angels 11-9. The Angels blew 4-0, 7-5, 8-7 and 9-8 leads, with Rafael Devers bouncing a chopper between the gloves of second baseman Chris Taylor and shortstop Zach Neto behind second base to tie it 9-9 in the eighth. Each of the first three times the Red Sox scored, Los Angeles answered with runs of its own. But after walking Mike Trout to lead off the ninth, Cooper Criswell (1-0) got the next three batters out to give Boston a chance to walk it off. In the bottom half, Abraham Toro singled with one out and Rafaela hit a 308-foot liner over the short wall that goes from the foul pole toward the bullpens in right. Taylor Ward had four RBIs for the Angels, who were going for the three-game sweep. Before recording his first out, Red Sox starter Lucas Giolito allowed four runs on two doubles, two singles and a homer. Then Angels starter José Soriano gave up four singles and two walks to make it 4-3 before striking out Rafaela on his 25th pitch of the inning. David Hamilton's two-run double with one out gave Boston a 5-4 lead. Combined, the starting pitchers, allowed 14 runs in 5 1/3 innings. The Angels are off Thursday, with RHP Kyle Hendricks (2-6, 5.34 ERA) slated to start the opener of a three-game series against Seattle on Friday night. The Red Sox are off Thursday before starting a three-game series in New York against the Yankees. ___ AP MLB:
Yahoo
17 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Boston Red Sox lead MLB in errors — again; ‘There's a lot of bad right now'
BOSTON — The Red Sox made three errors in their 4-3 loss to the Angels in 10 innings here at Fenway Park on Tuesday. Boston leads the majors with 53 errors after leading the league in errors each of the past two seasons. Advertisement Boston's poor defense over a three-year stretch has led to two infield coaches/instructors — Carlos Febles in 2023 and Andy Fox in 2024 — being fired. And yet the issues continue to persist. 'Routine groundballs for double plays we don't turn,' manager Alex Cora said. 'We throw to the wrong bases. We (miss) cutoff guys. PFPs were horrible. So there's a lot of bad right now.' Cora ripped his team but also took blame as the Red Sox dropped to five games under .500 (29-34) and 6-17 in one-run games. 'We keep making the same mistakes,' Cora said. 'We're not getting better. At one point it has to be on me I guess, right? I'm the manager. I've gotta keep pushing them to get better. They're not getting better. They're not. We keep making the same mistakes.' Advertisement Ceddanne Rafaela's throwing error in the third inning led to the Angels taking a 3-0 lead. Zach Neto hit an RBI single up the middle. Rafaela fielded and decided to throw home but his throw sailed all the way to the backstop. That allowed Chris Taylor to advance from second to third base and Neto to move up to second. Both Taylor and Neto scored on Nolan Schanuel's two-run single to left field. 'I think it was the right decision,' Rafaela said about throwing home. 'If I execute that throw, I think it was an out.' Kristian Campbell botched a ground ball in the fifth inning that could have been a double play. It instead resulted in no outs and two men on base. Advertisement Reliever Zack Kelly also made an error trying to field a sac bunt hit to him in the 10th inning. 'Right now obviously we know we're in a tough stretch,' Rafaela said. 'I think everybody here doesn't want to make mistakes. I feel we can't get frustrated. We've gotta keep going. It's a long season. We have till September. I think we're still in the battle and I trust this team.' Starter Brayan Bello was better than in his previous five starts. But some concerning trends continued. He hit No. 8 hitter Jo Adell and walked Taylor, the No. 9 hitter, to begin the three-run third inning. 'We missed a cutoff guy, they scored two,' Cora said. 'We hit the eighth hitter. We walked the ninth hitter. We didn't execute a bunt play. We didn't advance when we needed to. So you can talk about chances, I can tell you the chances that we gave the opposition. We were lucky to be in that game at the end to be honest with you.' More Red Sox coverage Read the original article on MassLive.
