Triston Casas hit three home runs and drove in seven to propel the Boston Red Sox to an 8-1 victory over the visiting Minnesota Twins in the first game of a split doubleheader on Sunday.
Casas hit a pair of three-run home runs off Minnesota starter Pablo Lopez and added a solo homer against Brent Headrick. The three home runs, a career high for one game, gave him 12 for the season. The seven RBIs are also a career high.
Casas’ first three-run homer came in the bottom of the first, shortly after Red Sox manager Alex Cora was ejected following an obstruction call on Vaughn Grissom during a pickoff attempt at second base in the top of the inning.
Casas hit another three-run shot in the third against Lopez to extend Boston’s lead to 6-0, then increased Boston’s lead to 8-1 when he went deep against Headrick in the fifth.
Boston (77-78) also scored on an RBI single by Romy Gonzalez in the fourth. Gonzalez and Masataka Yoshida each collected two hits.
Red Sox starter Nick Pivetta (6-11) allowed one unearned run on four hits in five innings to earn the win. He walked three and struck out four. Four Boston relievers held Minnesota hitless the rest of the way.
Lopez (15-9) surrendered seven runs on nine hits in four innings. He fanned three and walked one.
Minnesota (81-74) collected its run in the fourth. Willi Castro singled and eventually scored from third on a two-out fielding error by Gonzalez.
The Twins, who beat the Red Sox 4-2 in 12 innings on Friday before Saturday’s game was rained out, entered the game in sole possession of the American League’s final wild-card spot, a half-game behind Kansas City and a half-game ahead of Detroit. The loss, combined with Detroit’s 4-3 win against the Baltimore Orioles and Kansas City’s 2-0 loss to the San Francisco Giants, left Minnesota a half game behind both Kansas City and Detroit, with the nightcap representing an opportunity to forge a three-way tie in the standings.
It was Boston’s first game since All-Star third baseman Rafael Devers was placed on the injured list with left shoulder inflammation. Devers was 1-for-15 with 11 strikeouts over his last four games. Before Sunday’s game, Cora said an MRI revealed no structural damage and Devers will not need surgery.
Boston had failed to score more than three runs in five straight games entering Sunday.
–Field Level Media
