BOSTON – Of all the things that have stood in the way of the Twins’ attempt to qualify for the postseason, the question of first base and their first baseman may be the most unexpected.

A slow roller by Boston’s Romy Gonzalez in the first inning collided with the sack, turning an easy out into a freak-play single, and that hit extended the inning enough for Red Sox first baseman Triston Casas to bat with two runners on base. Casas slammed the first pitch he saw from Pablo López into the right-field seats, the first of three hits Casas struck out in Game 1 of a doubleheader on Sunday, and the Red Sox handed the Twins their 12th loss in 18 games, 8-1 at Fenway Park.

The loss cost the Twins a chance to catch the Royals in the wild-card standings and left them vulnerable to being caught by the Tigers and Mariners. A second game, a make-up for Saturday’s rain-cancelled game, is scheduled for 4:35 p.m. Central time, pitting rookie Zebby Matthews against Red Sox right-hander Kutter Crawford.

No, it’s probably unlikely the Twins would have won if Carlos Santana hadn’t been prevented from fielding Gonzalez’s ball at first base. But ultimately, it played into one of López’s weaknesses all season: he allows home runs in the first inning. Casas’s hit was the eighth López has allowed, one fewer than Crawford, the American League leader.

Casas proved it was no fluke two innings later when he again batted with two Red Sox on base. This time he waited for a López fastball, and when he got one in the strike zone on a 2-2 count, he struck out, sending it flying into the second row of fans above the Green Monster in left field.

And in the fifth inning, when Brent Headrick made his Twins debut in 2024, Casas greeted the left-hander by hammering his second pitch into the center field seats just behind the Red Sox bullpen, his third of the day and his 12th of the season.

The Twins, on the other hand, were just as weak at bat as they had been all trip. Against Red Sox starter Nick Pivetta, they only managed four hits, all singles and never more than one per inning. They left the bases loaded in the first inning before Casas hit his first home run, and the Twins’ only run resulted from an error by Gonzalez that allowed Willi Castro to score from third base.

The Boston bullpen did not allow a single hit in the final four innings, and except for one walk that was immediately cancelled out by a double play, the final 13 Twins went down in order.