You’re so goddamn cruel, baseball.
Here’s how tonight’s game began:
Yup, that’s our old friend Ceddanne Rafaela — who has been MIA over the last three weeks with a quadriceps injury — announcing his return with authority. It took him precisely three pitches to find himself back exactly where he belongs: lying face down on the Kentucky Bluegrass of Fenway Park with a ball grasped firmly inside the webbing of his glove. And if that wasn’t enough, he proceeded to record the next two outs as well. Then, just for shits and giggles apparently, he put a ball off the bottom of the scoreboard in left to lead off the second.
It was a roaring return and it sure was nice to have him back. The most clutch hitter in the Red Sox lineup stepped back into the batters box just in time to spark a lineup that’s been swinging around in the dark all month.
Ceddy started tugging at his hamstring as he rounded first on that second inning single. He stayed in the game only to exit it at the start of the third. There was, no doubt, no small element of caution in removing Ceddanne from the game. If he was that bad, he wouldn’t have stayed in the game at all, right? Right?? That’s the optimistic take on things, anyway, and it was tempting to shoot for optimism on a night when Sonny Gray once again asserted his mastery of the mound.
But the Red Sox lineup continued to struggle. They did actually hit the ball tonight. They collected 12 hits in fact. But every single one of those hits was a single— every single one of them — as they were continually unable to bring runners home. Adley Rutschman failed to bring in two runners in the first. Jahmai Jones’ lefty-bashing powers were neutralized after the Sox put the first two batters on in the third, then Jarren Duran — in for the injured Rafaela — struck out with the bases loaded three batters later. Wilyer Abreu and Adley Rutschman teamed up to squander a two on/one out situation in the fifth. This lineup is seriously struggling to score runs right now and I’m not sure how it’s going to pull out of it without healthy and productive versions of Ceddanne Rafaela and Willson Contreras.
The Sox did finally break through in the sixth, when Jarren Duran just barely legged out a run from second on an Andruw Monasterio single to left. It was a great show of his best asset — his baserunning abandon — and he added to it with a steal in the 9th inning (clinching what is almost certainly the worst statistical 20-20 season of all-time). But, to complete the 2026 Jarren Duran cycle (one big strikeout, one big baserunning moment, and one display of a shockingly low baseball IQ) he then somehow failed to score from third on a ground ball that bounced around between Guardians infielders Travis Bazzana and Nathaniel Lowe.
But it didn’t matter, because one run would be all they needed. Tyron Guerrero (reclaiming his role from Erik Miller?), Garrett Whitlock, and Aroldis Chapman shut the Guardians down with little trouble. The Sox pitching staff was outstanding, more than good enough to win the game on it’s own. It’s going to need to be.
Ceddanne Rafaela: He’s the most fun Sox player in ages and it’s just so good to see him back on the field. Please be okay.
Sonny Gray: The 36-year-old caps off one of the single best seasons he’s had in his 14-year career with a calm, cool, six-inning shutdown effort. The Sonny Gray deal hit the absolute best-case scenario.
Jarren Duran: Yes, he struck out in a big early moment. Yes, he failed to add a much-needed insurance run in the 8th. But the Sox simply do not win this game without his legs.
The cruel twists of fate.
