Sonny Gray sharp, Ceddanne Rafaela's pinch-hit homer lifts Red Sox past Phillies 3-1

It’s been a rarity this season for the Red Sox offense to generate all of its scoring via the home run ball.

That’s exactly what happened Wednesday night, as Boston got a solo homer from Trevor Story and a go-ahead two-run pinch-hit blast from Ceddanne Rafaela to defeat the Phillies, 3-1, at Fenway Park.

The Red Sox are now 5-2 this season when they hit two or more home runs and remain unbeaten at Fenway Park in those games at 3-0.

Story opened the scoring in the second inning, launching his third homer of the season off Phillies rookie Andrew Painter. The blast was Story’s first home run since April 15, snapping a 21-game homerless streak.

The lead was short-lived. 

Justin Crawford, the son of former Red Sox outfielder Carl Crawford, answered with a 403-foot missile into the center-field seats in the third inning. The homer was Crawford’s second of the season, despite the rookie appearing in just 38 major league games.

With the game tied, Sonny Gray turned in another strong outing for Boston.

The veteran right-hander tossed six innings while allowing just one run on two hits and one walk. He also struck out a season-high six batters, marking his second consecutive impressive start since returning from the injured list with a hamstring issue.

Gray threw 78 pitches, 68% for strikes. He recorded 11 swings and misses, including four with his curveball, according to Baseball Savant.

Red Sox pitchers have allowed two earned runs or less in six of their 11 games in the month of May. They’ve posted a 2.61 ERA this month and allowed three earned runs or fewer in 12 of their last 16 games. 

Painter entered Wednesday night with a 6.89 ERA, but the Phillies' rookie delivered his best outing of the season against Boston.

The 23-year-old allowed just one run over five innings while scattering four hits. He did not walk a batter, hit one hitter, and struck out four.

Painter closed his outing in dominant fashion, retiring the final seven batters he faced, including three consecutive strikeouts in the fifth inning.

Once Phillies interim manager Don Mattingly turned the game over to the bullpen, however, the Red Sox offense finally broke through.

Wilyer Abreu opened the sixth inning with his third single of the night. Two batters later, Rafaela pinch-hit for Masataka Yoshida against Phillies right-hander Orion Kerkering and crushed a go-ahead two-run homer off the Green Monster.

The blast marked Rafaela’s first career pinch-hit home run.

Rafaela is now 3-for-10 in his career as a pinch hitter with one homer, one double, two RBIs, and four strikeouts.

That proved to be all the offense Boston needed.

Justin Slaten tossed a scoreless seventh inning, Garrett Whitlock worked a perfect eighth, and Aroldis Chapman survived a stressful ninth inning to record his ninth save of the season.

Chapman issued two walks and allowed runners to reach second and third with two outs before striking out Alec Bohm to end the game.

The Sox closer has now converted 24 straight save opportunities dating back to July 26, 2025. It marks the longest active save streak in the American League and the second-longest streak in Major League Baseball behind only Braves closer Raisel Iglesias, who has converted 25 consecutive save chances.

Chapman’s streak is also the longest by a Red Sox pitcher since Craig Kimbrel successfully converted 25 straight saves spanning the 2016 and 2017 seasons.

Boston’s defense also continued to impress.

Willson Contreras, who returned to the lineup after being hit in the hand during Sunday’s series finale against Tampa Bay, made several strong defensive plays at first base. 

Story also turned in a strong performance defensively.

The veteran shortstop made a slick play deep in the hole on a 97.4 mph ground ball off the bat of J.T. Realmuto before firing a strong throw across the diamond to record the first out of the eighth inning.

The Red Sox have now gone seven straight games without committing an error.

There was also a scare in the eighth inning when Connor Wong appeared to injure his ankle after colliding with Eduardo Sosa on a play where Whitlock made a diving catch to preserve the out.

Carlos Narváez entered to catch the ninth inning, and Chad Tracy later told reporters that imaging on Wong came back negative. The club expects to know more about his status on Thursday.

After hitting a home run to open the series, Kyle Schwarber went 0-for-2 after tying a franchise record by homering in five straight games. The Phillies have scored just three runs in two games in the series. They won, 2-1, Tuesday night behind the strong pitching of Zack Wheeler, Jose Alvarado and Jhoan Duran.

Former Red Sox right-hander Brad Keller struck out the side in the seventh inning for Philadelphia. Since July 18, 2025, Keller owns a stellar 1.79 ERA across 45 1/3 innings spanning 46 appearances, with 39 of those outings ending as scoreless appearances.

With the win, the Red Sox improved to 18-24 on the season while the Phillies fell to 20-23. Boston also moved to 8-13 at Fenway Park and improved to 13-20 against right-handed starting pitchers this season.

The Red Sox and Phillies will wrap up their three-game series Thursday night at Fenway Park with first pitch scheduled for 6:45 p.m.

There's rain in the forecast for the series finale, and if the two teams play, Ranger Suarez (2-2, 2.77 ERA) is set to make the start against his former club. 

The 30-year-old Venezuelan spent the 2018-2025 seasons with Philadelphia, posting a 3.38 ERA across 187 appearances, including 119 starts. The Phillies will counter with left-hander Jesús Luzardo (3-3, 5.77 ERA).