BOSTON -- In a critical situation in the bottom of the seventh inning on Saturday at Fenway Park, Ceddanne Rafaela found himself down in the count, 1-2, and didn’t look particularly comfortable getting there.
The first pitch was in the middle-upper quadrant of the strike zone and he watched it go by for strike one. The next pitch was high and way out of the strike zone and he swung through it. After taking ball one, Rafaela again chased high for strike two.
The Rafaela of 2024 and ‘25 could well have been on his way to a strikeout.
But the evolution of Rafaela as a hitter has been one of the best developments of the season for Boston. With the bases loaded and two outs, Rafaela shortened his swing on a curveball and rifled it on a line and through the shortstop hole and into left for a go-ahead two-run single that lifted the Red Sox to a 6-3 victory over the Rangers.
“Well, he fished for a couple of pitches, the first two swings,” said interim manager Chad Tracy. “He swung at two balls well out of the zone up, and then just kind of calmed himself down and made sure he got a strike and put it in play. But, yeah, obviously a clutch at-bat.”
Rafaela has often come through with the game on the line in his career.
“I'm never worried when it's him,” Jarren Duran said of Rafaela. “In any situation where we need to come up clutch or something like that, he's the guy. He's got literally ice in his veins. It's sick.”
Was Rafaela mad at himself for getting himself into that unadvantageous 1-2 count against Rangers lefty Robby Ahlstrom by chasing?
“I cannot be mad in that moment. I was just trying to refocus and get into the box and get the job done,” Rafaela said. “I think it was huge. I was trying to just put the ball in play and the curve popped, and I tried to put a good swing on it.”
An inning later, Duran took a better one, mauling a two-run homer into the visitors’ bullpen to pad the lead to three runs and make it an easier save situation for Aroldis Chapman.
For Duran, it was a nice way to snap out of what had been a miserable June for him, after he belted nine homers in May.
“Absolutely terrible. I'm gonna be honest with you: I felt terrible [this month],” Duran said. “Playing [poorly] at the plate. But I’ve just gotta figure it the [expletive] out. I'm not really doing much for the team at the plate, so I just gotta be better.”
Sometimes, one productive swing can unlock Duran. Could that be the case here?
“Knock on wood for that one,” said Duran, who literally knocked on the wooden table he was speaking to reporters in front of. “I’ve just got to be committed to what my approach is. I get caught in between, I put all that pressure on myself, just stupid mistakes on my part. And I gotta stop being stupid, honestly, and just play baseball.”
The swings by Rafaela and Duran helped end an ignominious stretch of losing baseball for the Red Sox at Fenway Park.
For the first time since April 8, Boston won a second straight game at home. This was also the first series win at Fenway for the Sox since that same date, when they took a rubber match against the Brewers in the second home series of the season.
“Obviously, we know the last two months, how they went, but I think everything's starting to click together. The offense is getting good at-bats,” said Ranger Suarez, who went five innings and got out of multiple jams. “That led us to win close games and led us to win this series. So I feel like everything's going to click from now on.”
To get back into contention, the Red Sox (29-39) will need to ride players like Rafaela, Wilyer Abreu, Willson Contreras and Duran. It will still be a while before Roman Anthony – out since May 5 with a torn tendon in his right ring finger – returns to the mix.
Instead of thinking big, the Red Sox will try to chip away at the hole they’ve dug for themselves.
“It’s been a minute,” Tracy said of winning his first home series since replacing Alex Cora. “It feels good. It’s no secret with you guys, with us, with the players, we all know we have to play better at home. We've played two really good ballgames here to start, and won a series there and have a chance to go sweep one, so it feels good for the guys for sure.”