Red Sox 9, Dodgers 4: Rafaela's Go-Ahead Homer Caps Five-Run Rally

Ohtani took the lead. Rafaela took it back.

July 31, 2026 – Los Angeles – Shohei Ohtani's two-run homer in the fifth put the Dodgers ahead 4-3 and the crowd on its feet. For a few minutes, Dodger Stadium had the night it wanted.

Then Ceddanne Rafaela answered.

Nick Sogard walked to open a five-run Boston inning. Rafaela drove a 405-foot shot to left for a 5-4 lead. Andruw Monasterio doubled home two more. Jarren Duran's RBI groundout made it 8-4. The Boston Red Sox beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 9-4 in the series opener and refused to let an early lead die quietly.

Boston led 3-0. Los Angeles flipped it. Boston flipped it harder.

The Red Sox scored three in the third before Los Angeles chipped away. Freddie Freeman's two-out RBI single in the fourth scored Ohtani and extended Freeman's hitting streak to 10 games, the longest by a Dodger this season. Ohtani finished 2-for-5 with two runs and two RBIs a night after sitting with lingering left-knee soreness that has kept him off the mound since July 3.

His 24th homer came off Jovani Morán after Ranger Suárez had already allowed an RBI single to Eliezer Alfonzo. That sequence put Los Angeles ahead. It did not keep them ahead.

Cole Irvin, called up earlier in the day on a selected Triple-A contract, took the loss in his first major-league outing since 2024. Six innings of relief. Six runs. Eight hits. The go-ahead damage landed on his ledger even if the night started as a bullpen bridge.

Contreras left early. The lineup did not stop.

Willson Contreras was hit in the helmet by Will Klein in the third and exited for precautionary reasons. Boston still finished with 12 hits. Brayan Bello earned the win with four innings of three-hit relief after Suárez's exit.

That is how road wins against the National League's best record look in late July: survive the star's homer, then pile on when the middle innings open.

AthX Engine put Rafaela on top of the hitter board

AthX Engine (AthX's projection and scoring system) credited Rafaela with 11 hitting fantasy points, tied for first on the Friday slate. Boston's 17 team FP ranked third overall, matching San Diego's shutout win and trailing only Detroit and Houston's blowouts.

Fantasy points track the daily performance board. Share prices also move with market activity through dynamic pricing. Rafaela's go-ahead swing is the story. The 11 FP line is how it ranks against every other hitter from Friday night.

Yamamoto and Tolle get Saturday

Payton Tolle draws Yoshinobu Yamamoto next. Los Angeles will try to answer a home loss that turned on one five-run half-inning. Boston will try to keep a California surge rolling after Thursday's walk-off win in Sacramento and Friday's rally in Chavez Ravine.

Ohtani can change a game with one swing. On Friday, Rafaela changed it right back.

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*Sources: MLB.com Gameday final, ESPN recap and box score, MLB.com schedule, and AthX Engine scoring. Information only; not financial advice.*