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Rafaela thought he just missed on the slam, spiking his bat on the fly to left. Colby Thomas really should have made the catch, but he didn’t time the play very well and had the ball go off his glove as he jumped at the wall. Rafaela had hit .355 in 32 career plate appearances with the bases loaded, but this was his first slam, and it put the Red Sox in position to claim a 10th straight road victory. Rafaela, who was dropped to fifth in Boston’s lineup with new arrival Curtis Mead hitting second tonight, is batting .278/.320/.442 in 414 plate appearances.

Hoerner hit a two-run homer off Hunter Dobbins to essentially put the game away in the top of the ninth. It was his first homer since way back on Apr. 21, when he hit his fourth in 23 games to start the year. It now seems pretty official that he’s turned things around after a two-month slump; he’s batting .432/.432/.545 in 10 games to start the second half, raising his OPS from .631 to .666.

Lindor now has eight home runs on the season. He hit a two-run shot off Martín Pérez in the third inning and a three-run shot off Braves reliever Connor Thomas in the eighth inning. Lindor’s 2026 has been an injury-ravaged season to forget, but he certainly looked like himself at the plate on Monday. He’s hitting .233 with a .743 OPS and 23 RBI.

The positive news here is that Mead appears to have avoided serious injury during his Red Sox debut after initial X-rays came back negative for any fractures. He was struck by a pitch from Athletics starter Jack Perkins during his second at-bat of the contest. The 25-year-old infielder, who was acquired from the Nationals in a trade over the weekend, is presumably day-to-day moving forward. It’s a significant relief for Boston and fantasy managers as well.

Conine’s home run was his eighth of the season. He hit a solo shot off Zack Wheeler in the second inning. In the ninth inning, Conine hit a walk-off single in a tie game with the bases loaded and one out. Conine is hitting .266 with an .887 OPS and 18 RBI in 109 at-bats.

Lowe had the day off on Saturday with the Pirates facing Cubs left-hander Shota Imanaga. Since then, he’s had three hits in back-to-back games. On Monday, he singled to get the Pirates on the board in the sixth inning, doubled in the eighth inning and hit a walk-off single in the 10th inning. Lowe is hitting .251 with a .797 OPS and 67 RBI, which leads all second basemen.

Mayo extended Baltimore’s early advantage with an RBI single against Tigers starter Keider Montero in the third inning before taking reliever Brenan Hanifee deep for a no-doubter to left field in the fifth. It was his 14th round-tripper of the season and fourth time he’s gone deep since the start of July.

Valdez was struck by a pitch on the left hand during the fourth inning of Monday’s series opener in Pittsburgh. The 22-year-old rookie sensation, who has hit 14 homers in 38 games this season, will head for X-ray to determine whether he suffered any fractures. There should be an update on his status following the contest.

Mead has a phenomenal opportunity to make some noise in Sutter Health Field’s high-octane offensive environment in West Sacramento after coming over from the Nationals in a challenge trade for lefty Connelly Early over the weekend. The 25-year-old former top prospect has gone through a bizarre odyssey in the early portion of his career, but he appears to have finally arrived as an impactful everyday option this season, launching 17 homers in 327 plate appearances for Washington. He’s started pulling the ball in the air with much greater frequency this season, which will absolutely work in Fenway Park. He’s at second base in his Boston debut, but is likely to also see time at the hot corner over the final two months.

Garcia is ready to return to game action after hitting the injured list with a muscle strain in his left hand back on June 23. The 26-year-old third baseman hasn’t come close to replicating last year’s impressive 16-homer, 23-steal breakthrough campaign. However, he should make an impact for fantasy managers down the home stretch and he should be rostered in most leagues.