Triston Casas got his first taste of the stories Red Sox-Yankees rivalry Tuesday night.
The first baseman hit his first Fenway Park home run in Boston’s eventual 7-6 loss in 10 innings to New York. Casas also stole a base and worked a five-pitch walk against Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole, but a three-run 10th inning proved to be the difference for the visitors.
It was the first time Casas played against the Yankees, and even though a late-September Boston-New York matchup doesn’t have any postseason implications for the Red Sox, it still was good for the 23-year-old to experience something that will be part of his Major League Baseball career.
“It’s tough that we came up short but outside of that, it was pretty awesome,” Casas told reporters, per MassLive’s Chris Cotillo. “Tight game back and forth. Lots of homers, but with two pitchers like that, it’s hard to string hits together. So the long ball was in play today. We just came up short.”
Xander Bogaerts and Reese McGuire also homered in the game, while Aaron Judge added two for the Yankees to bring his season total to 57. Casas was watching Judge’s swing and noticed one thing in particular.
“The thing I take away from his swing, especially seeing it live today, is just his effort level,” Casas told reporters. “He’s going out there swinging pretty slow. He doesn’t sacrifice mechanics. He didn’t miss his pitches (Tuesday).”
Casas and the Red Sox wrap up the quick two-game set Wednesday night. First pitch from Fenway Park is set for 7:10 p.m. ET and you can catch all the action beginning at 6 p.m. on NESN.
