Monster game: Sox’s Casas homers in 1st 3 ABs

BOSTON — Red Sox first baseman Triston Casas homered in his first three at-bats Sunday in the opener of a split doubleheader against the Minnesota Twins.

Casas, 24, drove in seven runs in the 8-1 victory.

The record for homers in a game is four, and it’s been done 18 times in MLB history.

The last player to hit four in a game was J.D. Martinez, on Sept. 4, 2017, when he was playing for the Arizona Diamondbacks against the Los Angeles Dodgers. No American League player has done it since Josh Hamilton, playing for the Texas Rangers, did it against the Baltimore Orioles on May 8, 2012.

With the crowd cheering, Casas bounced to first in his fourth at-bat, ending the sixth inning.

Casas’ first home run came with two runners on off a first-pitch fastball from Pablo Lopez in the opening inning. It sailed an estimated 400 feet, landing in the seats behind Boston’s bullpen.

His second — also off López — was an opposite-field drive into the Green Monster seats in the third, also with two runners on that made it 6-0. It marked the second two-homer game of his career, the other came July 22, 2023.

The third was on the first pitch from reliever Brent Headrick leading off the fifth inning and gave the Red Sox an 8-1 lead.

Winning for just the eighth time in their past 22 games, the Red Sox are 23-36 since the All-Star break.

López was tagged for seven runs and nine hits in four innings. He had allowed two or fewer runs in 10 of his past 12 starts.

Trying to earn one of the AL’s wild-card spots, the Twins have lost 12 of their last 18 games and are 11-21 since Aug. 17, when they were 17 games over .500.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *