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