Rafaela hits shortest walk-off homer in Statcast era at Fenway Park
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Ceddanne Rafaela may just be thanking his lucky stars he plays his home games at Fenway Park.
Rafaela used Pesky’s Pole to his advantage on Wednesday afternoon to lift his Boston Red Sox to an 11-9 victory over the Los Angeles Angels.
On the first pitch he saw in the bottom of the ninth, a 97-mph fastball, Rafaela swung and flew one down the right field line.
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Boston Red Sox outfielder Ceddanne Rafaela is congratulated after hitting a game-winning home run against the Los Angeles Angels in the ninth inning at Fenway Park. (David Butler II-Imagn Images)
But with the foul pole just 302 feet from home plate, it was enough to be a walk-off two-run homer.
The ball traveled just 308 feet, the shortest walk-off shot in the Statcast era (since 2015). Obviously, it would only have been a home run at Fenway.
The three shortest home runs ever tracked by Statcast have all been at Fenway Park, and Rafaela’s shot is the third-shortest on record.
Brockton fans sit next to the Pesky Pole during their game versus Bridgewater-Raynham at Fenway Park on Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2022. (Marc Vasconcellos/The Enterprise / USA TODAY NETWORK)
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.
The Angels moved to 28-33, while the Sox are now 30-34.
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.
Boston Red Sox outfielder Ceddanne Rafaela hits a game-winning home run against the Los Angeles Angels in the ninth inning at Fenway Park. (David Butler II-Imagn Images)
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The pole, of course, is named after Johnny Pesky, who hit just 17 career home runs, but six of them occurred right around the pole.
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