Red Sox outfielders Ceddanne Rafaela and Wilyer Abreu teamed up to prevent a Tigers home run in the seventh inning in Boston’s 6-5 loss to Detroit on Wednesday at Comerica Park.
Boston and Detroit were deadlocked 5-5 in the bottom of the inning when Tigers designated hitter Kerry Carpenter crushed a 95 MPH four-seam fastball offering from Liam Hendricks to deep right.
Abreu attempted to time up the catch at the warning track, jumping up to snag the ball before it dropped over the fence. However, the ball hit the heel of Abreu’s glove and deflected back toward the field. In a bizarre turn of events, the ball landed directly in Rafaela’s waiting bare hand.
Hendriks was ecstatic on the mound as he watched the play unfold.
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“Yeah, I don’t think I’ve seen that,” Hendriks told reporters in Detroit. “I’ve had a couple of interesting plays like that here … but that one was special. … But yeah, that was special.
“I mean, it was a hell of a catch off the bat. I was like, ‘Oh, crap.’ And then I saw Willie drifting back with it. I was like, ‘Oh, maybe we’ve got a chance.’ I didn’t think it was that chance.”
The play was reviewed, but the call on the field stood. Hendriks then took advice from the umpire before continuing with the inning.
“The umpire told me, ‘Hey, you should probably keep that ball. A little bit of a lucky one there,'” Hendriks explained. “Took his advice, kept it, and the next ball went straight to (Trevor Story) as well. So, I think the ball had some good juju in it for me.”
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Hendriks pitched a one-two-three seventh inning to keep the game tied 5-5. In nine appearances this season, the 36-year-old right-hander has a 1.80 ERA with two earned runs, four walks and eight strikeouts across 10 innings.
Featured image via Junfu Han / Imagn Images
