LOS ANGELES, CA — The Dodgers ran into a Boston buzzsaw Friday night in their 9-4 game one loss of this three-game weekend series to the surging Red Sox, who finished the month of July off at 21-4.
After trailing Boston 3-0, Los Angeles went ahead 4-3 with the help of Shohei Ohtani, who hit a blistering line-drive two-run home run into the right field pavilion.
That was looking good for the Dodgers, getting a fine performance from recently called-up left-hander Cole Irvin, while sailing along for 3.2 innings.
Then the bottom dropped out in the top of the seventh inning when Ceddanne Rafaela, Willemstad, Curaçao, hit a 405-foot two-run home run into the Dodger bullpen in left field.
That was followed by four hits and resulted in a five-run inning, giving the Red Sox an 8-4 lead.
The Dodgers opted for a bullpen game, with Edgardo Henríquez, Cumana, Venezuela, getting his first-ever start in the big leagues. The 100+MPH flamethrower had only been used in late innings, where he doubled his innings from 22 games in 2025 to 44 so far this season, prior to Friday.
The 24-year-old Venezuelan worked a scoreless first inning with Will Klein then giving up the first three runs before Irvin took over.
Freddie Freeman, now sitting with a .305 batting average, went 3-4, as Rafaela was 3-5 for Boston, adding on to his .286 clip for 2026.
To kick off a three-game weekend set against the Dodgers, Ceddane Rafaela smacked his 12th HR of 2026 in Friday’s 9-4 win in Los Angeles – Image Credit: Bill Menzel/Latino Sports
In the win, the Red Sox played eight Latinos with the starters being Rafaela in center field, right fielder Wilyer Abreu, Maracaibo, Venezuela, first baseman Willson Contreras, Puerto Cabello, Venezuela, shortstop Andruw Monasterio, Caracas, Venezuela, catcher Carlos Narváez, Maracay, Venezuela, and LHP Ranger Suárez, Pie de Cuesta, Venezuela.
Then, to wrap up with the final two—relievers Jovani Morán, Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, and Brayan Bello, Samaná, Dominican Republic.
On Saturday, the Red Sox will start lefty Payton Tolle, 6-6, 3.32 ERA, while the Dodgers (69-41) send Yoshinobu Yamamoto, 11-6, 2.72 ERA, to see if he can stop this Boston club (58-51) that is beginning to steamroll its way into the postseason.
A team that began the year 25-33 through the first three months of the season.
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