Red Sox's Ceddanne Rafaela Claps Back at Umpiring Decision on Instagram

There's nothing fun about feeling like an umpire's close call helped decide a game, and that was how the Boston Red Sox felt on Sunday.

In the most important game of the regular season, the Red Sox came into the fifth inning tied 0-0 with the arch-rival New York Yankees. With a runner on first base, Jazz Chisholm Jr. lined a ball into right-center that Ceddanne Rafaela appeared to catch on a dive for the first out. But as Rafaela threw the ball to first base for what could well have been a double play, the umpiring crew ruled that the ball had hit the ground.

The umpires ruled this NOT a catch by Ceddanne Rafaela... what? pic.twitter.com/J6X2j4We0o
— NESN (@NESN) August 30, 2026

It was the moment of the game, as the Yankees went on to score five runs in the inning when they could have easily been blanked. From there, New York cruised to a 16-1 win that got more embarrassing as it went along, but all the while, the Red Sox felt everything could have been different if they'd escaped the fifth with no damage.

Rafaela's snakebitten reaction to non-catch ruling

Rafaela, the odds-on favorite to win the Platinum Glove in the American League, was clearly aghast at the ruling in the moment, and his reactions continued to evolve once the final out was made. First, he took a clear stance on whether the ball hit the ground during postgame interviews.

“I know I made the catch,” Rafaela said, per Christopher Smith of MassLive. “I know when a ball drop and a ball don’t drop — and I know I made the catch.”

An angle of the play that was shown only on the Yankees broadcast was evidence to some that the "call stands" ruling was reasonable. It's tough when you need indisputable evidence to reverse the ruling on the field, and yet, the ball clearly hits Rafaela's glove before the ground, so it's easy to see why he felt peeved.

This angle isn't being shown on NESN and hasn't been posted anywhere on the internet for some reason.

This isn't *obviously* a trap, but the ball moves and it's unclear if it hit the ground around the :03 mark. pic.twitter.com/aVkfXuBWob
— Ryan Garcia (@RyanGarciaESM) August 30, 2026

On Instagram, Rafaela posted the exact same angle of the play, but in a still frame. And in his mind, it was evidence that the catch was made, not a trap, as Yankees fans and some neutral observers were claiming that angle showed.

Ceddanne Rafaela reacts on Instagram to the ruling that he did not catch this ball https://t.co/rb5ilXTgj5 pic.twitter.com/KT0hqiBYSR
— Talkin' Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) August 30, 2026

Rafaela's agency, Evolv Sports Management, also posted a photo of him sitting at the replay review center in Manhattan, presumably taken during a side trip to Manhattan this weekend in a bit of brutal foreshadowing.

The game had massive consequences, as the Yankees won the season series tiebreaker over the Red Sox and extended their lead over Boston to four games for the top wild-card spot in the American League.

Add us as a preferred source on Google