


Triston Casas went down in a heap. The big Red Sox first baseman had just fouled a pitch right off his shin, and while it undoubtedly hurt like crazy Casas was able to gather himself and step back into the box.
Then, he sent the next pitch he saw 435 feet into the center field bleachers.
One of the hottest hitters in baseball since the All-Star break, Casas kept things going with another huge game to power the Red Sox to a 3-2 win over the San Francisco Giants to kick off their latest west coast trip. He went 2 for 4 with two RBI, crushing the solo home run along with a run-scoring ground rule double, and starting pitcher Kutter Crawford earned the win after delivering one of his best outings of the season.
Casas started the scoring in the top of the second after Adam Duvall doubled down the left field line, bringing him in with a bomb to straightaway center that bounced off the warning track and into the outfield stands. He then homered his next time up to lead off the fifth, prompting NESN color commentator Will Middlebrooks to exclaim “dear god” as the ball landed several rows deep.
For a while that’s all the offense either side could muster, as Crawford and Giants starter Logan Webb each carved up the opposing lineup. Crawford allowed only one run over 5.2 innings, giving up three hits and a walk while striking out seven. The Giants finally got to him in the sixth when Michael Conforto drove in rookie Marco Luciano with an RBI single, but lefty Brennan Bernardino came on with two outs and struck out Austin Slater to end the inning.
Josh Winckowski then pitched a scoreless seventh, working his way out of trouble after allowing back-to-back singles to lead off the frame. He was aided by Justin Turner, who made an outstanding play at second base for the first out after flipping a tough ball up the middle to the bag with his glove.
Meanwhile, Webb pitched into the eighth inning and allowed three runs on six hits with no walks and four strikeouts. The third run came in the top of the eighth when Connor Wong led off with a single and later came around to score after Rob Refsnyder, pinch hitting for Jarren Duran, greeted lefty reliever Taylor Rogers with an RBI single.
That insurance run immediately proved consequential.
Joc Pederson led off the bottom of the eighth with a solo home run off Chris Martin, but rather than tie the game it only cut the Red Sox lead to 3-2. Martin quickly sent down the next three men he faced, and then Kenley Jansen wrapped things up in the bottom of the ninth for his 23rd save of the season.
The Red Sox (56-47) have now won five straight games and are 1.5 back of both the Toronto Blue Jays and Houston Astros for the second and third American League Wild Card spots. They will be back in action Saturday at 7:15 p.m. ET for a primetime showcase on Fox, with James Paxton (6-2, 3.46 ERA) scheduled to face off against Anthony DeSclafani (4-8, 4.88).