The Boston Red Sox dropped a devastating game to the New York Yankees on Saturday night 11-8 after being tied five separate times and giving up runs in the 7th, 8th, 9th, and 10th innings to blow a late lead, including an 8-7 9th-inning lead with closer Kenley Jansen one strike away from finishing off a second consecutive victory to open the series.
Looking back, one player’s embarrassing baserunning gaffe in the second inning is being pointed to as a huge reason why the Sox lost.
With no one out in the second inning and the score tied at four with runners on second and third, Wilyer Abreu hit a routine fly ball to center that Trent Grisham caught and threw back to the infield before second baseman Gleyber Torres tossed the ball over to third base to nab Ceddanne Rafaela for a double play while he was standing off third base talking to the third base coach.
The Yankees stole an out because Rafaela just wasn’t on the bag 😂 pic.twitter.com/uqwQK6rJM4
To make matters worse, Masataka Yoshida immediately hit an RBI single in the next at-bat to score Jarren Duran from second base in what should have been a two-run single.
Rafaela’s error cost the team a much-needed run, and in a game that was tied five separate times and came down to being one strike away from a victory in the 9th inning, many fans are pointing to this blunder as the reason why the Sox lost.
Boston continues to make costly mistakes this season due to having so much youth on the roster, but this one was unacceptable and out of character for Rafaela, who is having a strong rookie year and making a push to win Rookie of the Year.