Great News for Ceddanne Rafaela, Boston Red Sox

"Just a day," Tracy said. "This is the day that I was talking about as far as him being the last one of a long run of games. Coming off the travel day, this felt like the day to do it. He's okay. He's okay. Everything checked out fine there. This was just the appropriate day to do it."

So, there you have it Red Sox fans. There's no need for concern for Rafaela.

Right now, the Red Sox are in a rut and couldn't afford to lose another significant piece at this point. Boston has lost six of its last seven games, including Friday's opener against the Pirates. It wasn't Boston's day. Boston dropped the opener, 8-4. Jake Bennett took the mound and allowed four earned runs in four innings of work. Jovani Morán, who has been steady for the vast majority of the season, pitched one inning and allowed three runs in the process.

Boston had plenty of traffic on the base paths, but just couldn't get it done. The Red Sox racked up nine base hits — the same as Pittsburgh — but left eight runners on base. In comparison, the Pirates finished the game with just three runners left on base.

Fortunately, Rafaela is alright and should be ready to go again on Sunday to try to help boost this offense. He has been among Boston's most consistent offensive weapons this season. Right now, he's slashing .288/.326/.467 with 16 home runs, 63 RBIs, 16 stolen bases and a league-leading 28 doubles in 117 games played.

Boston will turn to its No. 1 starter in Sonny Gray. Even when things were bad earlier in the season, Gray gave Boston a chance to win each time he took the mound. The Pirates will respond with righty Jared Jones.