Triston Casas of the Red Sox hits 3 home runs in his first 3 at-bats

BOSTON – Red Sox first baseman Triston Casas hit a home run in his first three at-bats in the opener of a split doubleheader against the Minnesota Twins on Sunday.

The 24-year-old Casas scored seven runs in the 8-1 win.

“It's funny, I got whistled on deck,” Casas said. “Nobody told me about the previous home run. They just wanted another, another, and another. It was funny. That's a credit to the fans who expect not just greatness, but perfection. They bring out the best in me.”

The record for most home runs in a game is four and has been achieved 18 times in MLB history.

The last player to score four runs in a game was JD Martinez on September 4, 2017, while playing for the Arizona Diamondbacks against the Los Angeles Dodgers. No American League player has accomplished this since Josh Hamilton, playing for the Texas Rangers, did so on May 8, 2012 against the Baltimore Orioles.

Amid cheers from the crowd, Casas made the jump to first base in his fourth at-bat, ending the sixth inning.

“Exactly the same thing I was thinking the last three, just not thinking,” Casas said of the fourth at-bat. “I went up there with no fear of missing a hit and swung the bat hard if I hit it.”

Casas' first home run came with two runners on in the first inning, off a Pablo Lopez fastball on the first pitch. It flew an estimated 400 feet and landed in the seats behind Boston's bullpen.

His second hit – also against López – was an opposite-field hit into the Green Monsters' seats in the third inning, also with two runners on base, making the score 6-0. It was the second game of his career with two home runs, the other coming on July 22, 2023.

The third hit came on reliever Brent Headrick's first pitch in the fifth inning, giving the Red Sox an 8-1 lead.

In Game 2, a 9-3 Red Sox victory, Casas went 0 for 3 with two walks, but overall it was a feel-good day for the home team at a time when there weren't many of them. The two wins gave Boston just nine in its last 23 games; the Red Sox are 24-36 since the All-Star break.

López allowed seven runs and nine hits in four innings in Game 1. He had allowed two or fewer runs in ten of his last twelve starts.

Trying to secure one of the AL wild-card spots, the Twins have now lost 13 of their last 19 games and are 11-22 since August 17, when they were 17 games over .500.