RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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NEW YORK (AP) — Ceddanne Rafaela and the Boston Red Sox ran themselves right into a 1-0 loss at Yankee Stadium.
In the opener of a critical four-game series, Rafaela committed a costly baserunning blunder in the fifth inning Friday night and then got thrown out at home plate to end the seventh.
Shut out for the second consecutive game and seventh time this season, Boston (73-61) dropped three games behind the Yankees (76-58) in the race for the top American League wild-card and home-field advantage throughout a potential best-of-three playoff series between the longtime rivals.
With the Red Sox trailing on Paul Goldschmidt's third-inning homer off starter Patrick Sandoval, they put two on against New York ace Cam Schlittler with one out in the fifth. Wilyer Abreu lined out to center field, and Rafaela got doubled off first as the trail runner to end the inning — with cleanup batter Willson Contreras on deck.
“That’s a bad read on me. That’s very bad," Rafaela said. "No excuses. That can’t happen.”
In the bottom half, cameras caught Rafaela shaking his head at himself in center field.
“I don’t know if it was an outs thing or if it was both guys when the ball kind of came off the bat, they started to extend, thinking it was going to drop," Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy said. “He may have just extended too far, got close to the bag and then he flipped the ball in quick and he’s back-picked at first. So, tough one there, obviously.”
In a nip-and-tuck game with a playoff feel, Boston then put runners at second and third with one out in the seventh when Rafaela singled and Abreu doubled on the first two pitches from reliever Paul Blackburn.
Contreras lofted a fly to medium left field and Cody Bellinger cut down the speedy Rafaela at home plate with a 99.7 mph throw.
“Honestly, not surprised because we know he has a good arm," Rafaela said. “He throws with accuracy and that was being aggressive trying to tie the game right there and he made a perfect throw. I think that’s the only throw that can get me out right there.”
Rafaela said he went on his own, even though interim third base coach Chad Epperson was telling him to hold.
“That’s not him. That’s on me. Sometimes I make dumb decisions trying to be over-aggressive and those things happen,” Rafaela said.
Tracy, however, thought trying to score was the right play in that situation.
“We haven’t scored much lately, so you've got to take your shot," he said. "You get the ball in the air, which is what you need, and you have a really good baserunner in Rafa and speed at third. You’re going to take your shot and with him running, it’s got to be a perfect throw and he made a perfect throw right on the money.
“It’s like, how many opportunities are you going to get? And you've got to go there and force it,” Tracy added. “If you get it a little bit offline in one direction with Rafa running, you’re going to be safe.”
Schlittler was thrilled with the end result.
“It was a great throw on a great runner. That changed the whole game right there," he said.
Boston finished 1 for 7 with runners in scoring position and stranded 10 overall in its first 1-0 loss to the Yankees since July 25, 2008. The 13-game season series is tied 5-all.
“Everything matters in these games,” New York manager Aaron Boone said.
Paired with a 4-0 defeat Wednesday at Miami, it's the first time the Red Sox have gone two games in a row without scoring since September 2023.
“These games are fun,” Bellinger said. "Atmosphere is incredible and I always like to impact the game some way. So I was glad I was able to make that throw.”
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AP freelance writer Larry Fleisher contributed to this report.
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