Boston's Triston Casas hits 3 home runs in 1st 3 at-bats vs Twins

BOSTON (AP) — Boston’s Triston Casas homered in his first three at-bats on Sunday in the opener of a split doubleheader against the Minnesota Twins.

The 24-year-old Casas drove in seven runs in Boston’s 8-1 victory.

“It's funny, I was getting chirped on deck,” Casas said. “Nobody was telling me anything about the previous home run. They just wanted another one, another one and another one. That was funny. That's a credit to the fans, expecting not just greatness but perfection. They bring the best out of me.”

The record for homers in a game is four, and its 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 Arizona against the Los Angeles Dodgers. No AL player has done it since Josh Hamilton, playing for Texas, did it against the Baltimore Orioles May 8, 2012.

With the crowd cheering, he bounced to first in his fourth at-bat, ending the sixth inning. That was his only chance at matching history.

“Just the same thing I was thinking the last three, just no thought,” he said when asked what he thought before the fourth at-bat. “Going up there not being afraid to fail, swinging the bat hard in case I hit it.”

Casas’ first homer came with two runners on off a first-pitch fastball from Pablo López 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 22nd of last season.

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.

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