One great swing of the bat from Triston Casas kept the Red Sox’s postseason dreams alive for at least one more day.
Then he added two more for good measure…
Casas blasted a three-run homer in the first, a three-run homer in the third and a solo homer in the fifth to spark an 8-1 blowout of the Twins in the opener of a doubleheader following Saturday’s rainout.
TRISTON CASAS HAS THREE HOME RUNS IN THE FIRST FIVE INNINGS OF A DOUBLEHEADER!!! pic.twitter.com/9HIbKBntKx
— Boston Sports Gordo (@BOSSportsGordo) September 22, 2024
Boston entered the day five games out of the third and final AL wild-card spot with eight games to play. A Sunday sweep would have sealed the Sox’s fate as a postseason also-ran for the fifth time in six years.
“It ranks well (in my career) because of the magnitude of this game. I mean, we needed this game to stay in this fight against this team,” Casas said of his three-homer, seven-RBI day. “That means more to me than the three home runs.”
There have been other three-homer games at Fenway, but this one etched a place in the history books as the 24-year-old became the youngest first baseman to achieve the feat at the ballpark since none other than Lou Gehrig.
“It feels good. I know I have that potential,” Casas said. “I mean, maybe not to hit three home runs every game, but to hit the ball like that. I know I can do it. It’s just a matter of consistency and, you know, doing it over and over.”
Perhaps most encouraging about his outing is the way he used the entire field. His first-inning homer traveled 400 feet to right-center, his third-inning shot sailed 360 feet to left and his fifth-inning bomb went 423 to center.
Enjoy Triston homering 1 time.
— Red Sox (@RedSox) September 22, 2024
2 times.
3 TIMES!!! pic.twitter.com/YdYkY7YZjr
So what changed for a guy who was hitting .188 with one homer in 17 prior September games? What was his secret? His mindset?
Nothing. Nothing at all…
“Just no thought. Going up there, not being afraid to fail, swinging the bat hard in case I hit it,” Casas said. “I don’t know what led to it specifically, but just a lot of trial and error, for sure, to get to that unconscious state that I strive to get to every time. So, today was a step in the right direction.”
Casas added, “It’s a funny game. Just 48 hours ago, I was having a lot different thoughts than I am right now. Just trying to weather the storm.”
Casas is hopeful he’ll be able to carry that success forward through the end of the season, but he isn’t sweating it if he doesn’t…
“If I have a good end of the season, it gives me something to work on in the offseason. But just as equally, if I have a bad ending to the season, I have just as much things to work on,” Casas said. “I’m motivated by success and failure.”
Casas had never homered three times in any game at any level — “not even in a video game,” he added — and that thought was front and center in his mind when he stepped to the plate in the fifth.
But as he shared, it had already been willed into existence — by utility outfielder Rob Refsnyder.
“Right before the third one, I was next to Ref in the bathroom and he said ‘You’re going to do it again.’ I was like ‘Shh, don’t say it.’ And then I did and he told me, you know, ‘I told you.’ Thanks to Ref. He calmed me down.”
It’s that kind of confidence from his teammates that is helping Casas develop the utmost confidence in himself.
“It means a lot,” Casas said. “I have to instill that confidence in them to have confidence in me, you know. So I try to have respectable at-bats up there for them and for my coaches and, you know, the front office to be able to allow me the opportunity to fail. I think I have to earn that for them to respect me.”
Kutter’s turnaround
Kutter Crawford is slated to make one more start this season, but he already knows he’ll be holding his head high once the offseason arrives.
Crawford turned in a strong outing in his penultimate start of 2024, which is still a career year despite his ups and downs. The 28-year-old right-hander limited Minnesota to three runs on eight hits with no walks and seven strikeouts in a 7 2/3-inning victory.
He had already achieved personal bests in innings pitched (now 179 1/3) and strikeouts (169) to go with a 9-15 record and a 4.17 ERA.
“It’s a good feeling. Obviously the numbers aren’t quite where I’d like them to be, but being able to look back as this year’s coming to an end — hopefully not over this next week — but it’s a good feeling looking back and being able to post every five days.”
In all likelihood, the Red Sox will be eliminated by the time Crawford takes the mound next Friday at Fenway to open the final series of the season against Tampa Bay. But tacking on another quality start would continue the positive trend of his last seven starts — allowing more than three runs only once in that span.
“Being able to push my body on the back end of this season and still being able to go out there and throw seven, eight strong innings, it’s a good feeling,” Crawford said.
With much expected of him going into the season, Crawford has certainly established himself as a pitcher who belongs on a major league roster. Whether or not he’s done enough to pencil his name into next year’s rotation remains to be seen and is somewhat out of his control.
But it’s encouraging to see him battling through and turning things around after hitting a wall at one point in the second half…
Devers reacts
Rafael Devers didn’t exactly seem like someone who was devastated he wouldn’t be able to finish out the season.
After the opener of Sunday’s doubleheader, Devers spoke with us for the first time since being placed on the 10-day injured list with left shoulder inflammation— effectively ending the slugger’s 2024 season.
Asked for his reaction to his year being cut short, Devers shrugged it off — literally and figuratively.
"Yeah, no, those things happen. Part of the game,” Devers said through a team interpreter. “This happens to many other baseball players, and I’m not frustrated. It’s just a little bit disappointing, but at the same time you’ve got to deal with it.”
Devers’ body language came across as someone who was disengaged — which, given the fact that his team may only be a day away from elimination, is somewhat understandable. But “laid back” and “disinterested” were definitely the best words to describe his demeanor.
The good news, though, is that Devers is also shrugging off the need for offseason surgery.
“No, no,” Devers said — no translation needed. He even tossed in a “stay positive” in English at the end of his answer.
“Obviously it was good news that it was nothing serious,” Devers said referring to his positive MRI results, which showed only inflammation. “I just need to get ready for next year.”
He also confirmed this originated from the same shoulder issues he’s been dogged by all season.
“It’s been something I’ve been dealing with the whole year,” said Devers. “Obviously I was trying to play through it, and like I said before, we’re in a good position. But at the end of the day, it was the manager’s decision to put me on the IL — and I agree with him.”
The 27-year-old, who will be entering his ninth big league season in 2025, said he isn’t worried about the injuries bleeding into next season and he expects to be ready for the start of spring training.
On the whole, Devers was still pleased with his offensive output during the season despite appearing in the fewest number of games in his last five full seasons. To hit nearly 30 homers, drive in over 80 runs and hit over .270 on two bad shoulders is pretty darn good…
“I think it was a regular season for me. Those numbers are gonna be there,” Devers said, also adding that “I never felt like myself this year.”
Gethin Coolbaugh is a columnist for Boston Sports Journal. Follow him @GethinCoolbaugh on X/Twitter.