Watch: Ceddanne Rafaela hits towering walkoff home run to extend Red Sox winning streak to 8 games
“He’s a great pitcher and he threw a great pitch, but I made a great swing.”
Ceddanne Rafaela is one of the hottest hitters in baseball right now.
His latest hit was a massive one: a walkoff two-run home run over the Green Monster to cap the Red Sox’ second comeback win in as many days and extend their winning streak to eight games.
Rafaela, who’s batting .352 with a 1.167 OPS in 19 games since June 20, crushed a slider thrown by Tampa Bay Rays reliever Pete Fairbanks with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning with Boston trailing 4-3 and Roman Anthony standing on first base. Rafaela socked the ball 406 feet, high into the air, and out of Fenway Park to send the crowd into a frenzy.
Watch the electric moment when Boston won 5-4:
Rafaela watched the ball fly and looked into the stands to witness Red Sox fans explode as the ball left the park. He also pointed to his veins on his left arm, indicating that he has ice in his veins following the clutch moment.
Listen to Will Flemming’s radio call of the thrilling moment on WEEI:
Immediately following the walkoff, Rafaela praised Boston’s fans for keeping high energy in the ballpark and roaring when he hit the homer.
“(This crowd is) all I ask for every night,” Rafaela told NESN’s Tom Caron on the field postgame. “That’s what I came to do here. … Everybody talks about it. You feel it when you win here.”
Before his postgame comments, Rafaela received a celebratory Gatorade shower from teammates Wilyer Abreu and Marcelo Mayer.
When Caron asked Rafaela what his approach was in that final at-bat, the player was cool as a cucumber. He repeated a line he said after Thursday’s 4-3 comeback win: he just wants to keep winning.
“[Try] not to do too much. I wanna win,” Rafaela said. “I wanna have to be here for my guys. I have to do everything I can. I wanna win.”
The Red Sox aren’t the only entity that extended impressive streaks on Friday. Rafaela extended his own hit streak to eight games and his RBI streak to seven games. That RBI streak (13 total RBI) is the longest active in the majors.
Speaking with reporters in the clubhouse after the game, Rafaela continued to stay away from applauding himself for the walkoff. He complimented Fairbanks on his fastball, which he was hoping to avoid facing.
“Not trying to do too much,” Rafaela said again of his stellar at-bat. “I faced (Fairbanks) the last time (the Rays) were here, and he threw me one curveball that I didn’t swing [at]. Since then, I wanted to see that curveball again. He’s a great pitcher and he threw a great pitch, but I made a great swing.”
“I cannot wait for the slider because of the fastball he has,” Rafaela later added.
Manager Alex Cora commended Rafaela’s growth over the player’s last couple of years since entering MLB.
“He understands what he needs to do,” the skipper said of Rafaela. “He’s able to catch up with the fastball now. He’s a good breaking ball hitter.”
“He likes this stuff,” Cora added, referencing Rafaela’s fondness for a raucous Fenway Park crowd. “You heard him last night: it’s about winning. He wants that environment tonight, in October. Because that was October today with the fans.
“The kid, he’s the best defensive center fielder in the big leagues. He’s hitting ninth in a pretty good lineup, and I think it helps what we’re trying to accomplish.”
Rafaela’s offensive surge comes after a fairly slow start to the season. Through his first 53 games, he was batting .239 with three home runs, nine doubles, and 20 RBI.
Since then, Rafaela has torn the cover off the ball. His dominance at the plate has massively contributed to Boston’s success over the last month.
Following Friday’s victory, the Red Sox own a 51-45 record and have sole possession of the American League’s second wild card spot.
While Rafaela’s recent performance is a major reason Boston is in the spot it’s in, he insists his offensive blaze is coming naturally.
“I think you do those things because you’re not really trying to,” Rafaela said. “That was the last thing in my mind to hit a walkoff home run. I was just trying to keep the train moving.”
Upon hitting one of the most important home runs of his career to date and seeing Red Sox fans make the ballpark shake, Rafaela said he thought about his family back home and how long he’s been waiting to experience a moment like Friday’s.
“It’s awesome,” he said. “I’ve been waiting for this moment since I was watching games with my mom in 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, to play in this atmosphere. I think when I hit that home run, I was thinking about my mom, my wife back home. And for this team, it was a special moment.”
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