Game 1: Red Sox 8, Twins 1
The mislabeling I’m going to give this game commentary is for the people who will say, “Where have THOSE Red Sox been all summer?” The real question should be, “What would this season have looked like if Triston Casas had been fully healthy?” Hands down his game of the season, and how.
Key moments
T1: Cora’s Fight
I have NEVER seen Alex Cora so hot. Rocco Baldelli goes to the umpires to call for fielder interference at second base against Vaughn Grissom. He gets the call and Cora is fuming. I thought this was going to end in another Lloyd McClendon with Cora walking off the field with the bag. He was absolutely on top form, so much so that crew chief Alan Porter had to step between Alex and second base umpire Dan Merzel. Rather than being threatening, it may have lit the fire.
B1: Casas’ First
The first strikes came from Triston Casas, who hit the ball into right field. 400 feet flat and an early lead for Nick Pivetta. That hasn’t helped too often at the end lately, but it was a great start.
B3: Casas’ Oppo Taco
The next pitch had just enough power to get into the second row of monster seats. To be honest, it was just one pitch from Triston and it stayed fair down the left field line.
T5: Pivetta’s solid performance
OK, Nicky, not too bad. His off-speed seemed better than his fastball today, but it came through just enough so the bullpen won’t be extremely stressed before Game 2.
B5: Drilling
That was a monster mash. 423 feet to center field, Casas must be feeling so good.
Bolt
Triston Casas (3-for-4, 3 HRs, 7 RBI)
When was the last time someone on the Sox had a three-home run day? Trevor Story, May 18, 2022 against Seattle. Right, left, and center, he showed off his power to every part of the field. He also made another great catch at first base!
Nick Pivetta (5.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 4 K)
Although Pivetta most likely has one more appearance left this season, this is a nice appearance as the 2024 season comes to an end. It wasn’t even his fault that a point was scored, otherwise he got out of every sticky situation, although it looked like he was fighting it a little. If this is the end of Pivetta’s tenure in Boston, it won’t be too bitter.
Romy Gonzalez (2 for 4, 2 RBI, 1 run scored)
Despite making the fielding error that led to Minnesota’s only run, Romy hit an RBI single up the middle and held on well enough to secure the Red Sox victory.
Unexploded bombs
…no one?
Sure, Rafaela went 0-of-4 with a K, but if I’m being blunt, no one had an obviously bad day. Most of them contributed in some way or another or were affected themselves. Even the two mistakes didn’t hurt them too much, although the one run was unearned.
Gameplay
I’m going to split this between Cora’s ejection and Casas’ third home run. The ejection will be great Netflix material, but Casas’ ejection was just beautiful.
Game 2: Red Sox 9, Twins 3
After a dominant game from start to finish in Boston’s 8-1 victory in the first of today’s doubleheaders, the Red Sox got off to a slow start in the second game. But thanks to a solid 7.2-inning start from Kutter Crawford, who struck out seven batters and was able to recover from early runs to shut down the Twins’ offense. And with Romy Gonzalez inspired by Triston Casas’ seven RBIs in the first game, the Sox were able to win the doubleheader quite easily with a 9-3 victory, even after a scare in the seventh inning.
Key moments
With each team getting just one hit in the first four innings, the night game started much slower than Boston’s afternoon win.
T5: Twins grab a pair
After a solid four-inning line (H, 3 K), Crawford made two quick outs early in the fifth inning before Minnesota scored the game’s first two runs with four consecutive singles.
B5: Boston strikes back
Fortunately, the Red Sox fought back by copying Minnesota’s scoring strategy. With two outs, Ceddanne Rafaela hit a double to center field for his first hit of the day, forcing a pitcher change and putting him at the top of the order. A walk by Duran kept the line moving for Gonzalez, who was clearly encouraged by Casas’ two three-run home runs from the afternoon game, as he hit his sixth home run of the year with a 450-foot three-run hit to center field.
Crawford recovered well in the sixth inning with a one-two-three inning, for which his offense immediately thanked him.
B6: The line continues to move
Nick Sogard’s double with one out gave Boston its third extra-base hit in less than an inning, as Wilyer Abreu pulled one off to put runners on first and second base, forcing a pitcher change. A single by Enmanuel Valdez loaded the bases with just one out, giving Rafaela a chance to score his first run of the day, which he took advantage of by getting hit by a new pitcher to give the Sox a 4-2 lead. Duran’s Fenway double brought in two more runs before Gonzalez got his fourth RBI of the day on a sacrifice fly for the second out of the inning. But Boston continued its trend of scoring with two outs, as Masataka Yoshida hit a single, drove in a run, stole second base and scored on a single by Connor Wong, giving the Sox a 9-2 lead heading into the seventh inning.
T8: All good things come to an end
In arguably Crawford’s best start of the second half of the season, Cora was more than comfortable leaving him on the field for an eighth inning when he had only 86 pitches. After a quick strikeout by Byron Buxton, Crawford’s performance lost momentum and he allowed three singles between a second out and a base full in the eighth inning. Cora called up Josh Winckowski when Crawford had 101 pitches. Winckowski made things a little dangerous by forcing a run on a walk from the first batter he faced, making it 9-3. Fortunately, he was able to get the third out of Carlos Santana to prevent further damage.
T9: It is pleasant in pairs
After getting things (relatively) under control and cleaning up after his eighth-inning outing, Wickowski went out for one more inning to help the Red Sox bullpen, which had to cover four innings earlier in the day. And that was all it took, as a clean inning from Wickowski, including a ground out from his old friend Christian Vazquez, sealed Boston’s victory in Sunday’s doubleheader.
Bolt
Romy Gonzalez (1-4, HR, 4 RBI, R)
Gonzalez held the Red Sox in check, who have been outgunned offensively over the last month. Two wins by six points in a time when a win probably doesn’t mean much is honestly pretty brutal to watch, but I can’t complain much when I actually enjoy watching a baseball team.
Cutter Crawford (7.2 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 7 K)
Crawford played great despite the bases being loaded in the seventh inning. Like Gonzalez, it’s probably underachieved, but it’s nice to see him regain some confidence at the end of this season after a bit of a rocky middle section.
Jarren Duran (1-4, 2 RBI, R, BB)
After looking pretty lost at the plate last week (like the majority of Boston’s offense), this was a nice game for Duran with a two-run double and two trips on base.
Unexploded bombs
I’m pretty happy with today’s doubleheader sweep (and the Broncos’ win), so I don’t think I can in my right mind call this game a letdown. After Friday’s absolute letdown of a game that pretty much destroyed every hope and dream I had for the rest of the season, this Sunday was a nice change of pace from what we’ve had to see over the last month. But man, I really wish this version of the Red Sox offense had performed just as well few a little earlier. But hey, at least the Royals’ losing streak continued today!
Gameplay
Just looking at Romy Gonzalez, it’s hard to believe he has a 450-foot hit, but his three-run home run was longer than any of the three Casas hit in the first game of the day and is simply beautiful to watch.
