It was the non-catch that kicked off a five-run inning and has the Red Sox irate, especially after the Yankees completed a 16-1 win over Boston in The Bronx.
Ceddanne Rafaela was emphatic Sunday that he had indeed made a diving catch that would have led to the Red Sox outfielder turning a double play.
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With a runner on first, Jazz Chisholm Jr. hit a fly ball into right-center field in the fifth inning that sent Rafaela to try to make the diving catch.
Boston Red Sox center fielder Ceddanne Rafaela (3) fields a single by New York Yankees second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. (13) during the fifth inning on Sunday, August 30, 2026, at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, NY. Robert Sabo for NY Post
While it appeared that he did, and Rafaela certainly felt like he did, the umpires ruled that he had trapped the ball and therefore the runners were on first and second. A video review also upheld the call on the field.
“I didn’t have to even watch it,” Rafaela told reporters, according to ESPN. “I know I made the catch. I know when a ball drops and a ball don’t drop. And I know I made the catch.”
Ceddanne Rafaela commented on the play in his Instagram Stories. Ceddanne Rafaela/ Instagram
Rafaela also took to social media to call out the ruling, posting a zoomed-in image of the ball in his glove along with text that stated that “it’s a man above that saw it.”
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He told reporters that he was “mad in the moment” because he wanted to help his pitcher.
“I feel that changed the whole game right there,” Rafaela added
Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy made it a point to note that the video review did not confirm the original call; rather, it merely upheld it.
“I know when you hear ‘call stands,’ not ‘call confirmed,’ that’s a pretty good indicator that they’re saying it’s very difficult to see anything on video for us to overturn on the field,” he said. “So, if you hear ‘call confirmed,’ that’s different. That’s not what you heard.
Boston Red Sox outfielder Ceddanne Rafaela reacts after a play against the New York Yankees during the fifth inning at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, New York, on Sunday, August 30, 2026. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
“We in the dugout feel like our center fielder caught the ball. But if they don’t have anything that they can definitively overturn it, that’s usually where you end up and obviously it’s frustrating.”
The Yankees went on to add runs in the sixth and seventh innings and then scored nine runs in the bottom of the eighth to cement the win.
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