Monday, June 22

Welcome back to the Red Sox Beat newsletter. MLB.com reporter/producer Josh Kirshenbaum wrote this edition from Seattle.

SEATTLE -- World Cup fever has taken over the Red Sox clubhouse. Group stage matches were on the TV before every game in Seattle. Every 20 minutes or so, at least one random voice started chanting “No Scotland, no party.” Tommy Kahnle, like thousands of fans, pulled the doubleheader Friday, going to the U.S. Men’s National Team’s 2-0 win over Australia at Seattle Stadium before walking across the street to T-Mobile Park for Boston’s 6-2 win in the series opener.

And in a back corner of the visitors' clubhouse, fittingly, Ceddanne Rafaela was his own little island of Curacao support, watching his home nation compete in the World Cup for the first time.

“Everybody’s together watching the World Cup, watching the games,” he said. “It’s really something pretty special for the island right now, what’s going on. I’ve been cheering for them.”

When Curacao, which has a population of just around 156,000, qualified for the World Cup last November, it became the smallest country to ever make the tournament. In its opening match last Sunday, Livano Comenencia scored Curacao’s first World Cup goal. Saturday, “The Blue Wave” earned its first-ever point with a 0-0 tie against Ecuador.

As it happened, Rafaela had a pre-planned day off Saturday to watch his home country’s match -- which started an hour and a half before first pitch -- though he did miss kickoff because of a hitter’s meeting.

Curacao is a constituent country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. In some competitions, it competes independently. In others, like the World Baseball Classic, its athletes compete for the Dutch team, alongside players from the Netherlands and Aruba.

Rafaela, who was born in Willemstad, has done both. As a child, he represented Curacao in the 2012 Little League World Series. This past spring, he took the field for the Netherlands at the WBC, collecting three hits across four games for Team Oranje.

He knows how different it can feel.

“Playing for the Netherlands, it was special; it was special to be with the boys from your island, and everybody from Curacao, Aruba,” he said. “It was special, but obviously, to have your island on your chest and representing people back home -- you’re representing your mom, your grandparents, your whole island -- it’s more special. I did it before, when I was a kid, and it’s pretty special.”

Curacao is also a little like the U.S., though, in that soccer has traditionally taken a back seat in the sports culture to baseball. Like here, it could be growing, as more people back home get to watch their country play on the biggest stage.

It’s a change from when Rafaela was growing up; he said he wasn’t allowed to go near a soccer ball.

“No, my dad didn’t let me,” he said with a laugh. “He said, ‘Get your glove and bat and go play baseball.’”

With one group stage game left, Curacao isn’t mathematically eliminated, but it would require a monumental upset of the Ivory Coast next Thursday in Philadelphia.

Rafaela should be able to watch at least some of that match in the clubhouse, too; it’ll take place right around the time batting practice starts ahead of the Sox’s series opener against the Yankees.

Will he be able to get any teammates on board the bandwagon for the ultimate underdog?

“No, they are cheering for the USA,” he said. “But I’m cheering for my island.”

It would be completely untrue to say that Kahnle signed a Minor League deal with the Red Sox because they would be playing the same day as the USMNT at the World Cup, on the same block. But it would be true to say he was thinking about it when he did.

“When I signed, I saw it in the distance,” he said. “But obviously I was in Triple-A, so I forgot about it. Then when I got called up, I looked and I’m going, ‘Oh, wait a minute.’ I put it together, and I was like, ‘Wow, I’m going to be there. I’ve got to go.’”

As the Red Sox came to Seattle, Kahnle got the hook-up from FIFA in partnership with MLB to get a ticket to the match against Australia, which drew a crowd of just under 70,000 that triggered seismic activity when the U.S. scored its two first-half goals.

“It was phenomenal; the atmosphere was sick,” said Kahnle, whose locker in Seattle was adorned with a USMNT scarf and both of the team’s jerseys. “It was very loud.”

Then, of course, Kahnle walked down the street to T-Mobile Park and went to his real job, tossing the final inning of the Sox’s win. He was the only player to pull the doubleheader, though apparently that’s because he’s the only one who asked.

“I came to find out that any of these guys could have gone,” he said. “They were all mad like, ‘Why didn’t you tell me?’ And I was like, ‘You could have done it yourself!”

Sunday marked an unfortunately significant anniversary for Patrick Sandoval: exactly two years since his last MLB outing.

It’s a span that dates to June 21, 2024, when Sandoval -- then with the Angels -- suffered a high-grade flexor tendon tear and a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his left elbow. He signed a two-year contract with the Red Sox ahead of last season but has dealt with multiple setbacks in his recovery, most recently a stretch of biceps soreness that paused his rehab for six weeks.

Now, though, the Red Sox think the southpaw might be getting closer to a return.

Sandoval is set to make his fourth start in his most recent run of rehab Tuesday with Triple-A Worcester, targeting three to four innings and 55 pitches. In his last outing Wednesday, he threw 44 pitches across three innings, striking out four.

“He is definitely doing well,” interim manager Chad Tracy said. “He was up to 96 the last outing, which was really encouraging to see. The pitch quality was good. He’s getting closer.”

To subscribe to Red Sox Beat, visit this page and mark "Red Sox Beat" from our newsletter list. Make sure you're following the Red Sox or that they're checked as your favorite team.

View Online

© 2026 MLB Advanced Media, L.P. MLB trademarks and copyrights are used with permission of Major League Baseball. Visit MLB.com. Any other marks used herein are trademarks of their respective owners.

Please review our Privacy Policy.

You (mlb-newsletters@mlb.com) received this message because you registered to receive commercial email messages or purchased a ticket from MLB. 

Please add info@marketing.mlbemail.com to your address book to ensure our messages reach your inbox. If you no longer wish to receive commercial email messages from MLB.com, please unsubscribe or log in and manage your email subscriptions.

Postal Address: MLB.com, c/o MLB Advanced Media, L.P., 1271 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020.