Ceddanne Rafaela walks it off with 308-foot homer as Red Sox avoid sweep by Angels
By Jimmy Golen, AP Sports Writer
Ceddanne Rafaela curled a home run around the Pesky Pole in the bottom of the ninth inning on Wednesday and the Boston Red Sox rallied after trailing four different times to beat the Los Angeles Angels 11-9.
The Angels blew 4-0, 7-5, 8-7 and 9-8 leads, with Rafael Devers bouncing a chopper between the gloves of second baseman Chris Taylor and shortstop Zach Neto behind second base to tie it 9-9 in the eighth.
Each of the first three times the Red Sox scored, Los Angeles answered with runs of its own. But after walking Mike Trout to lead off the ninth, Cooper Criswell (1-0) got the next three batters out to give Boston a chance to walk it off.
In the bottom half, Abraham Toro singled with one out and Rafaela hit a 308-foot liner over the short wall that goes from the foul pole toward the bullpens in right.
Taylor Ward had four RBIs for the Angels, who were going for the three-game sweep.
Key moment
Before recording his first out, Red Sox starter Lucas Giolito allowed four runs on two doubles, two singles and a homer. Then Angels starter José Soriano gave up four singles and two walks to make it 4-3 before striking out Rafaela on his 25th pitch of the inning.
David Hamilton's two-run double with one out gave Boston a 5-4 lead.
Key stat
Combined, the starting pitchers, allowed 14 runs in 5 1/3 innings.
Up next
The Angels are off Thursday, with RHP Kyle Hendricks (2-6, 5.34 ERA) slated to start the opener of a three-game series against Seattle on Friday night.
The Red Sox are off Thursday before starting a three-game series in New York against the Yankees.
