The struggling Minnesota Twins were swept in a doubleheader against Boston on Sunday, with Romy Gonzalez hitting a three-run homer and driving in four runs, leading the Red Sox to a 9-3 win in the second game.
This loss marked the Twins’ 13th in 19 games, putting them a game behind both Detroit and Kansas City for the final two wild-card spots in the AL. They have the tiebreaker advantage over both teams, and all three teams have six games left to play.
“We do feel like we’re in a funk and we’re not scoring the runs we need to. We know what it feels like, we know what it looks like. We’ve done it many times before,” said Twins manager Rocco Baldelli.
“There’s no way to force it in our game. You can’t make it happen, you can’t put the ball in the best player’s hands. You have to do it as a team. … We’re thinking about this. That’s all I think about. I go to bed every night thinking about this all the time.”
Minnesota (81-75) has struggled with a record of 11-22 since being 17 games over .500 on August 17.
“It was an especially tough day today, we lost both games,” said Twins first baseman Carlos Santana in a quiet clubhouse. “We go back home, six more games left and try to finish strong. We have to finish strong.”
The Red Sox, meanwhile, won for only the ninth time in 23 games, improving their record to .500 at 78-78 after falling out of the playoff race. They are just 24-36 since the All-Star break.
In the first game, Triston Casas hit home runs in his first three at-bats and drove in seven runs, leading the Red Sox to an 8-1 victory.
In the second game, with the Twins ahead 2-0 in the fifth inning, Gonzalez hit a three-run homer into the Green Monster seats in deep left-center off Cole Irvin (6-6).
Jarren Duran contributed a two-run double off the Monster in a six-run sixth inning that put Boston ahead 9-2. Gonzalez also added a sacrifice fly, while Masataka Yoshida and Connor Wong each had an RBI single.
Kutter Crawford (9-15) had a great game, pitching a career-high 7 2/3 innings, allowing three runs and eight hits while striking out seven batters without any walks.
Minnesota’s Kyle Farmer extended his hitting streak to 13 games. The second game was a rescheduled match from Saturday’s rainout.
During the first game, Triston Casas had a chance to make history, but after grounding out in his fourth at-bat, he did not come back up to bat again.
“I felt the most locked in I have all season,” Casas said. “I wasn’t going in with the intention to beat the ball to a spot. I was reacting to where it was, and keeping my posture and letting the bat go over the right part of the plate.”
The record for the most home runs in a game is four, and this has been achieved 18 times in MLB history.
The last player to hit four in a game was J.D. Martinez on September 4, 2017, while he was with Arizona against the Los Angeles Dodgers. No American League player has done it since Josh Hamilton did it for Texas against the Baltimore Orioles on May 8, 2012.
Casas’ first home run came in the opening inning with two runners on, hitting a first-pitch fastball from Pablo López (15-9) that traveled about 400 feet into the seats behind Boston’s bullpen.
His second home run, also off López, was a drive into the Monster seats in the third inning, again with two runners on, making the score 6-0. His third home run came on the first pitch from reliever Brent Headrick leading off the fifth inning, giving the Red Sox an 8-1 lead.
Nick Pivetta (6-11) allowed one unearned run in five innings.
López struggled, giving up seven runs and nine hits in four innings. He had previously allowed two or fewer runs in 10 of his last 12 starts.
“There’s no sugar-coating it. Not the performance I was looking for, especially with what this game means,” he said. “Didn’t provide the length, didn’t provide the quality.”
Red Sox manager Alex Cora was ejected in the first inning after getting upset when the umpires decided to allow Byron Buxton to advance to third base on an interference call at second during a pickoff attempt.
