Red Sox's Triston Casas hits first career homer, intense negotiation to get ball follows
Casas was making his third major league appearance
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Triston Casas had an eventful game in the third game of his Red Sox career even as Boston dropped Tuesday night’s game to the Tampa Bay Rays 8-4.
The first baseman hit his first major league home run off Rays pitcher J.T. Chargois at the top of the second inning. The two-run shot cut the Red Sox’s deficit to one run at the time. The dinger did not come without some drama with the baseball fan who obtained the ball at Tropicana Field.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Triston Casas, #36 of the Boston Red Sox, hits a two run home run in the second inning during a game against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field on Sept. 6, 2022, in St Petersburg, Florida. (Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
Jordan Blatner spoke to the Rays’ mascot, DJ Kitty, and a Rays clubhouse manager to try and trade for the ball. He told NESN’s Jahmi Webster he "never thought I’d be in this position."
"I just made them make me an offer and I took what they offered. I'm getting a signed bat by the player who hit it (Triston Casas), and I'm getting a (Xander) Bogaerts signed ball and somebody else, I don't remember who he said," he said.
Blatner added he tried to give Casas the ball back himself but was stopped by Red Sox security and was told officials would come to him.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}BREWERS' CHRISTIAN YELICH HITS LONGEST HOME RUN OF SEASON, TRAVELING AT 499 FEET
Boston Red Sox's Triston Casas, center, is congratulated by Christian Arroyo on his two-run home run, next to Tampa Bay Rays catcher Francisco Mejia during the second inning of a baseball game Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2022, in St. Petersburg, Florida. (AP Photo/Mike Carlson)
Later, he told MLB.com the home run ball hit him in the arm, and he initially did not want to give up the ball because he had never done something like that before.
Even with the loss, NESN noted Casas made some franchise history.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}At 22 years old, Casas became the youngest Red Sox first baseman to hit a home run since George Scott did it in September 1966.
Boston Red Sox first baseman Triston Casas, #36, on deck to bat against the Tampa Bay Rays during the seventh inning at Tropicana Field Sept. 6, 2022, in St. Petersburg, Florida. (Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports)
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"It felt pretty surreal. I guess I had never really hit a home run at a 96 mph exit velo. I didn’t think it was going to go," Casas told reporters after the game was over.