SAN FRANCISCO – As befits the guy who is even hotter than Shohei Ohtani, Triston Casas was elevated to the cleanup spot in the Red Sox lineup Saturday as the Sox take on the San Francisco Giants in the middle game of the three-game weekend interleague series.
Casas has a six-game hitting streak. during which he’s homered four times. Since the All-Star break, Casas is tied for the major league lead in homers (seven), and leads in OBP (.568), slugging percentage (1.139), OPS (1.707) and is second in batting average (.472).
His torrid pace isn’t limited to the All-Star break, either. Over his last 31 games, he’s hitting .363 with nine homers and an a 1.160 OPS.
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That helped earn Casas a chance to hit fourth for the third time this season. The last time Casas hit cleanup came in consecutive games back on April 12-13.
Alex Cora said he had been reluctant to hit Casas cleanup because of the pressure some young players feel.
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“That’s something I learned with Jarren (Duran) the last few years,” said Cora. “When he got here, we led him off because of the skill set but it doesn’t make sense. Like I’ve always said, this is the big leagues and it’s not easy. To put somebody in the four-spot, or a kid in leadoff, for me that doesn’t work. The expectations in this market are huge.
“The smart thing to do is to take it easy, trust the process and when they’re ready, they’re ready. I’m not saying he’s going to be our fourth hitter (on a daily basis), but with the situation we’re in today, it makes sense.”
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Part of what contributed to the decision was holding Masataka Yoshida out of the lineup. The Red Sox have come to realize that when Yoshida hits a lot of ground balls to the right side, it’s a sign that he could use some rest. Yoshida was 0-for-4 with four groundouts in Friday’s 3-2 win over the Giants, earning him a day of rest Saturday.
“I talked to him today and he feels OK,” said Cora. “But we’re giving him today, let’s see how it plays out, maybe (Sunday) too, you never know, and just get him ready for the week.”
BOSTON RED SOX (56-47) @ SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS (56-48) · ORACLE PARK · SAN FRANCISCO, CA
FIRST PITCH: 7:15 p.m. ET
TV CHANNEL: FOX
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RADIO: WEEI 93.7 FM
PITCHING PROBABLES: LHP James Paxton (6-2, 3.46) vs. RHP Ryan Walker (3-0, 2.70 ERA)
RED SOX LINEUP:
1. LF Jarren Duran
2. DH Justin Turner
3. 3B Rafael Devers
4. 1B Triston Casas
5. CF Adam Duvall
6. RF Alex Verdugo
7. 2B Christian Arroyo
8. C Connor Wong
9. SS Yu Chang
GIANTS LINEUP:
1. LF Austin Slater
2. 1B Wilmer Flores
3. 3B J.D. Davis
4. C Patrick Bailey
5. CF Luis Matos
6. DH Michael Conforto
7. SS Marco Luciano
8. 2B Casey Schmidt
9. RF Mike Yastremski
