The Boston Red Sox embarked on a bit of MLB history Wednesday, starting with their matchup against the Detroit Tigers. Boston will face the reigning Cy Young Award winners from each league in back-to-back games, something that has never happened before in baseball history. The Red Sox took on Tigers ace Tarik Skubal Wednesday and they’ll go up against Chris Sale on Friday in the first game of a three-game series against the Atlanta Braves.

Boston managed to score five runs off Skubal and the team got some defensive help as well in a close game. Tigers DH Kerry Carpenter came to the plate with the score tied at five in the bottom of the seventh inning. Carpenter drove the first pitch from Liam Hendriks deep to right center, looking for his 10th home run of the season. But the Red Sox’s outfielders had other plans.

Right fielder Wilyer Abreu tracked Carpenter’s shot, drifting back to the wall before timing his jump and going up for the grab. He made contact with the ball above the fence, robbing Carpenter of a home run, but couldn’t secure the catch. The ball shot out of Abreu’s glove in the direction of center fielder Ceddanne Rafaela, who demonstrated otherworldly reflexes and held on to record the out.

The Red Sox’s outfield showed out in wild play against the Tigers

Related Boston Red Sox NewsArticle continues below
Detroit Tigers starting pitcher Tarik Skubal (29) pitches in the third inning against the Texas Rangers at Comerica Park.
How Red Sox are making MLB history facing Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal
Boston Red Sox third base Alex Bregman (2) strikes out to end the first inning against the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park.
The scary fix that has Alex Bregman feeling young again
Red Sox Tigers prediction, MLB odds
Red Sox vs. Tigers prediction, odds, pick – 5/14/2025
Apr 26, 2025; Cleveland, OH, USA; Boston Red Sox left fielder Jarren Duran (16) and center fielder Ceddanne Rafaela (3) and right fielder Wilyer Abreu (52) celebrate after the Red Sox beat the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field.
Ken Blaze-Imagn Images

While the play will go down as a 9-8 flyout on your scorecard, you’ve gotta put a star next to that one. The two outfielders teamed up to keep the score 5-5 with Abreu getting the assist for robbing the home run and deflecting the ball to Rafaela, who deserves credit both for backing up the play and for snaring the ricochet for the second out of the inning.

Unfortunately for the Red Sox, they ran into a buzz saw as the Tigers have been red-hot, winning 11 of their last 14 games. Boston closer Aroldis Chapman came on in the bottom of the ninth with the score still tied 5-5 but he walked the leadoff hitter Andy Ibanez who stole second and advanced to third on a throwing error. Ibanez then scored the winning run on a walk-off single by Justyn-Henry Malloy.

The 6-5 victory Wednesday completed a three-game sweep of the Red Sox. The Tigers’ offense came alive during the series as Detroit scored 30 runs in the three games. The Tigers now have an MLB-best 29 wins on the season.