Red Sox Wrap: Ceddanne Rafaela Powers Boston Past Cubs
The Boston Red Sox continued their three-game set with the Chicago Cubs with a 17-0 win at Fenway Park on Saturday.
With the win, the Red Sox snapped a two-game losing streak and improved to 15-13, while the Cubs fell to 17-10.
Check out the full box score here.
ONE BIG TAKEAWAY
The Red Sox exploded for six runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to defeat the Cubs in the second game of the series.
Led by Ceddanne Rafaela, the Red Sox scored a season-high 17 runs on 21 hits against Cubs pitchers Ben Brown, Luke Little and Colten Brewer and position players Matt Mervis and Patrick Wisdom.
Rafaela launched a bases-clearing double in the fifth inning before hitting his fourth home run of the season in the seventh.
Tyler O’Neill continued his hot streak, hitting his ninth dinger of the season in the first inning to give Boston the early 2-0 lead.
The Red Sox added an additional six runs on eight hits in the bottom of the eighth inning.
On the other side of the field, Boston got nine shutout innings of baseball from John Winckowski, Brennan Bernardino, Justin Slaten, Cam Booser and position player Pable Reyes for the win.
Collectively Red Sox pitching held the Cubs to five hits and struck out seven batters.
STARS OF THE GAME
— Rafaela knocked in seven of Boston’s 17 runs in the game. He finished 4-for-4 at the plate and added a stolen base in the nine-run fifth inning.
— Masataka Yoshida went 4-for-5 from the dish, with an RBI and three runs scored in his return to the lineup after a five-game absence.
— O’Neill’s ninth home run of the season traveled 388 feet to left field into the Green Monster. He finished the game 3-for-5 from the plate with two RBIs.
ON DECK AT NESN
The Red Sox close out their series with the Cubs on Sunday night. First pitch from Fenway Park is slated for 7:10 p.m. ET, and the game will air on ESPN. The Red Sox will return to NESN’s airwaves on Tuesday night when Boston hosts the San Francisco Giants at Fenway Park.