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Red Sox Player Hit By a Pitch in the Nose, Stole Second Moments Later

Ceddanne Rafaela does it all for the Boston Red Sox.

Stephen Douglas

Ceddanne Rafaela gets hit in the nose.
Ceddanne Rafaela gets hit in the nose. /
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Ceddanne Rafaela is doing a little bit of everything for the Boston Red Sox this year. The 23-year old in his first full season with the big league club has played both middle infield positions as well as the outfield. He's fourth on the team in home runs and third in stolen bases. And every once in a while he takes one for the team whether he wants to or not.

That's exactly what happened on Monday night when Texas Rangers pitcher Tyler Mahle hit Rafaela in the face with a 91mph fastball that was way too up and in. The ball literally hit Rafaela on the tip of the nose. If he or the ball had moved a milimeter, he'd probably be headed to the DL with a broken nose. Instead, he took his base and immediately stole second.

Rafaela would advance to third with two outs but never made it home. Instead, he went out to centerfield and turned a routine fly ball into a highlight, proving that when you're that young anything can be an adventure.

Here's a closer look at that HBP that shows just how lucky Rafaela was. As if having his life flash before his eyes wasn't enough to make the night memorable, he ended up scoring the winning run in the bottom of the 10th.

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Stephen Douglas
STEPHEN DOUGLAS

Stephen Douglas is a Senior Writer on the Breaking & Trending News Team at Sports Illustrated. He has been in journalism and media since 2008, and now casts a wide net with coverage across all sports. Stephen spent more than a decade with The Big Lead and has previously written for Uproxx and The Sporting News. He has three children, two degrees and one now unverified Twitter account.

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