It’s a murky, drizzly September Saturday in Boston, Massachusetts, and I’ve finally made it over the pond and back to the Fens to catch my beloved Boston Red Sox battle the Minnesota Twins at historic Fenway Park.
The dreary weather had barely relented all day as I travelled back into the city on a rather nifty MBTA train from Worcester. If I closed my eyes, I could be in England but instead, in a nod to XTC, my senses were working overtime.
I grabbed some gifts, a delicious hot dog and a couple of Sam Adams before making my way inside the stadium.
The rain seemed to have intensified, and looking out over a glistening, drenched diamond it was no surprise when the game was abandoned without a pitch being thrown in anger.
But, good news – I had tickets for two games, and there will be a double header tomorrow!
So, a brighter Sunday dawned and I grabbed a T-Train from Gilman Square into the city. After a few hours of touristy stuff, I joined a throng of fellow Red Sox fans making their way to Fenway.
A bowl of delicious clam chowder and a further conversation with Sam Adams later, and I took my seat in the right field bleachers.
The Sox had dropped the first game of the series in 12 innings on Friday night thus extinguishing any hopes of a playoff berth. Despite this and yesterday’s downpour, the stadium was full, and the crowd was expectant as Nick Pivetta threw the first pitch of game one.
And then, it quickly became the Triston Casas show. The baby-faced Red Sox first baseman mashed a three-run dinger in the first inning, 3-0 Red Sox.
Just to reinforce the point, he smashed another over the Green Monster in the third inning to make it 6-0 Red Sox.
Then, as Casas strode confidently for his third plate appearance of the day, with the Red Sox partying at 7-1 up, he launched another bomb into centre field!
What a performance! Cue scenes of unbridled rapture in the bleachers as Casas became the first Red Sox player to hit three home runs in a game since Trevor Story did it against the Mariners two years earlier.
The game ended 8-1, and Casas’s final line read: 4AB, 3R, 3H, 0BB, 7RBI, 3HR.
An hour later, still excited and having imbued more beer, I made my way to a different seat, this time near Pesky’s pole, and settled down for game two.
A clearly shell-shocked Twins team were whipped 9-3 this time, highlighted by a Romy Gonzalez three-run homer in the fifth inning, and then the Sox ran wild with six runs scored in the sixth inning.
Much maligned pitcher Kutter Crawford also worked majestically into the eighth inning and didn’t give up a home run all night!
Finally, Josh Winckowski came in to end the game after six hours of baseball heaven and the stadium emptied as fans streamed out into a cool Boston night.
Phew, how lucky was I? Not only did I see Casas primetime but I also enjoyed 17 Red Sox runs in two dominant wins. I could get used to this…
Article by Carl Taylor. You can follow Carl on Twitter X @PunkyType. Want to share your baseball opinions with the Bat Flips & Nerds readership of 10,000? Hit the “Write for us” link
Featured image of Triston Casas by Winslow Townson/Getty Images
