Ceddanne Rafaela nearly delivered one of those center-field gems that gets replayed forever. Instead, the fifth inning at Yankee Stadium turned on an umpiring call that Boston never got back.
Jazz Chisholm Jr. sent a sinking line drive into center during a scoreless game Sunday, and Rafaela came flying in. He left his feet, lunged headfirst, and seemed to squeeze the ball just before he hit the turf.
From the Boston side, it looked like a clean grab. The NESN angles made the case even stronger.
Chisholm acted like he was out. Rafaela thought he had the catch.
The umpires did not see it that way, ruling the ball had touched the grass before he completed the play. Replay review upheld the call, and Chisholm was credited with a hit.
The ruling kept the inning alive, and Boston paid for it immediately.
Rafaela argued the call with first base umpire Edwin Moscoso, then needed a visit from a member of the Red Sox training staff after appearing to jam his neck on the landing. He stayed in the game, but the damage was already starting to build.
Two batters later, Paul Goldschmidt delivered a two-run single to crack the game open. Heliot Ramos followed with a three-run homer off Ranger Suárez, and a 0-0 contest became a 5-0 Yankees lead in a hurry. New York went on to win 6-0.
The controversial ruling was only part of Boston’s mess of a Sunday, but it was the moment that flipped the inning. What looked like a stunning Rafaela catch instead became the spark for the Yankees’ decisive rally.
That’s what makes the call sting even more for Boston: Rafaela has built a reputation as one of the sport’s most electric defensive players, the kind who can reach balls others don’t even attempt. He had already made a big defensive play earlier in the series, helping throw Amed Rosario out at home plate during Boston’s 6-0 win Saturday afternoon to help preserve Jake Bennett’s shutout.
This one looked like it belonged right alongside those highlights. Instead, it became a source of frustration in a weekend that left the Red Sox with plenty of it.
Boston managed only four hits Sunday and was shut out for the third time in five games. The loss dropped the Red Sox to 74-63, pushed them four games behind New York for the American League’s top wild-card position, and gave the Yankees the season-series tiebreaker if the clubs finish with identical records.
The Red Sox can’t pin the entire four-game series on one disputed play. They scored just eight runs across the set and were blanked twice.
But in a scoreless game with real weight attached, Rafaela appeared to make the play Boston needed most. The call went the other way, and New York made sure it mattered.
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