Entering Friday’s game against the Red Sox, Rays closer Pete Fairbanks had yet to allow a home run all season long. That changed by the time the game ended.
Ceddanne Rafaela hit a two-run homer off Fairbanks in the ninth inning to deliver the Red Sox a 5-4 walkoff win on Friday. Facing a 1-2 count, Rafaela took Fairbanks’s 86 mph slider that was low in the zone and crushed it 406 feet over the Green Monster for a no-doubter home run.
As Rafaela admired his long ball, Fairbanks stared at the ball leaving Fenway Park with a look of disbelief on his face.