Thomas leaped at the wall, stuck his glove over the top, and caught a piece of the ball. It tipped off, though, onto the netting for the first grand slam of Rafaela’s career.
At Sutter Health Park, a Triple-A facility and the temporary home of the vagabond Athletics as they await construction of their Las Vegas ballpark, anything is possible. Sometimes, in the stadium that has rated as more hitter-friendly this year than even the Rockies’ Coors Field, routine-looking popups to left field go over the wall.
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Sometimes, those popups are game-changers.
Rafaela’s blast (of sorts) in the sixth inning came off his bat at 98 miles per hour, which is hard but not usually homer-hard. He also hit it at a 40-degree angle — which is to say, very up. Batted balls with those qualities usually are a hit once in every 10 instances, according to MLB’s data.
“Played a lot of games here. Hit some home runs here too,” interim manager Chad Tracy said before the game, reminiscing about his days in the Triple-A Pacific Coast League. “I’ve seen this park plenty of times. I know the way the ball travels.”
The Red Sox (55-50) continued their torrid run leading up to the trade deadline next Monday. They have won 18 of their past 20 games and 26 of their past 33.
Before the Red Sox finally broke through, righthander Jack Perkins held them hitless for five innings.
Perkins, who entered the game with a 6.75 ERA, issued three walks (and hit a batter) along the way. But he didn’t yield a knock until Connor Wong doubled into the left-field corner to lead off the sixth, sparking the rally that climaxed with Rafaela’s long ball.
Potentially Perkins’s most impactful pitch, from the Red Sox’ perspective: a 95-mile-per-hour fastball that hit Curtis Mead on the left hand.
Playing in his first game after being acquired Saturday via trade with the Nationals, Mead was leading off the fourth inning. Perkins came up and in and clipped him.
It caught Mead on the outside of his bottom hand. He was in obvious immediate pain and was slow to get to first base, at one point stopping to bend over in discomfort.
Upon reaching first, Mead paused again to gather himself. First-base umpire Mark Wegner chatted with Athletics first baseman Jeff McNeil to give Mead a moment.
Mead stayed in the game, did not advance past first, and took his position at second base in the bottom of the fourth. He did not field any balls.
In the bottom of the fifth, Anthony Seigler replaced him at second. The team announced during the game Mead has a left wrist contusion and that X-rays were negative.
Lefthander Payton Tolle survived 5⅓ innings, allowing only two runs — on solo home runs from Tyler Soderstrom in the first inning (to left field and similar to Rafaela’s) and to Jonah Heim to lead off the sixth.
Tolle otherwise worked around traffic on the bases, five hits and a walk (plus a baserunner resulting from Andruw Monasterio’s fielding error) altogether. He struck out seven. In six tries, Tolle had a lone 1-2-3 inning.
On the season, Tolle is up to 110 innings in the majors and minors — edging his personal-high 108 from last season.
Tim Healey can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him @timbhealey.
