Red Sox rookie outfielder 'dreamed' about clutch homer against the Yankees
Red Sox rookie Ceddanne Rafaela crushed a massive go-ahead two-run homer to deep center field in the 10th inning for his first career homer at Yankee Stadium. Rafaela’s 10th blast ended up being the eventual game winner for the Red Sox, who defeated the Yankees 5-3 in 10 innings.
“I always was a Red Sox fan, and these types of games are the games I always dreamed about,” Rafaela said to reporters postgame. “Having those types of at-bats, those are the type of games I really wanted to be in.”
Rafaela’s homer came on the heels of Masataka Yoshida hitting a two-run homer in the top of the ninth inning to right field, which tied the game at 3-3.
“It was awesome. It was nice,” Rafaela said about playing here at Yankee Stadium for the first time.
The 23-year-old connected on a 95-mph fastball over the heart of the plate from the Yankees' Tommy Kahnle and sent it 412 feet into the New York sky.
“Huge for us,” manager Alex Cora said. “He’s been doing a good job. Hunting pitches in the zone. Hitting the ball hard. And we just wanted him to do the job in that situation. Just hit the ball to right-center or hit a ground ball to second. He stayed on a pitch and crushed it.”
The Red Sox had David Hamilton on second base as the automatic runner to open the frame. His speed adds a different dynamic for Boston when he’s on base. Kahnle was in a tough spot, having to worry about the potential of Hamilton stealing third and also dealing with the red-hot Rafaela at the plate.
Over his last 15 games, Rafaela is 18-for-56 (.321) with three home runs, 12 RBI, two walks, three stolen bases, with a .356 OBP and .571 slugging percentage.
