Hello October: Red Sox stun Tigers with ninth-inning heroics
Boston secures its postseason place with a dramatic ninth-inning walk-off that leaves Detroit’s playoff hopes hanging in the balance.
Boston punched its ticket to the 2025 MLB postseason with a dramatic 4–3 victory over Detroit at Fenway Park.
The Massachusetts side stunned Detroit in the bottom of the ninth when Ceddanne Rafaela delivered a clutch RBI hit that drove Romy González home.
With the Red Sox victory, just one postseason slot remains open in the American League. The Toronto Blue Jays, Seattle Mariners and Cleveland Guardians have already secured their divisions, while the New York Yankees hold another playoff berth. The final Wild Card is still up for grabs between the Tigers and the Houston Astros. Detroit can also fight for the AL Central crown, but only if it wins more games than Cleveland down the stretch.
How the Red Sox tamed the Tigers
The Tigers took control early, scoring three runs in the fourth on a Javier Báez RBI single and a two-run double from Jahmai Jones. Boston responded in the bottom half of the inning with a run-scoring hit from Masataka Yoshida.
The game turned tense as Boston clawed back one run at a time. Nathaniel Lowe closed the gap with a sacrifice fly in the seventh before Jarren Duran tied it 3–3 in the eighth with an RBI single.
That set the stage for Rafaela. With one out and González on first, the Curaçao native connected on a Tommy Kahnle changeup and sent the ball deep into center field. Wenceel Pérez gave chase, but González never stopped running and slid across home plate to seal Boston’s playoff berth in walk-off fashion.
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