BOSTON —
The Minnesota Twins were swept in a doubleheader against Boston on Sunday when Dominican Romy Gonzalez hit a three-run homer and drove in four to lead the Red Sox to a 9-3 victory.
By losing for the 13th time in 19 games, the Twins fell one game behind Detroit and Kansas City for the final two AL wild-card spots. They own the tiebreaker over both. All three teams have six games remaining.
Minnesota (81-75) is 11-22 since being 17 games over .500 on Aug. 17.
The Red Sox won for just the ninth time in 23 games to get back to .500 (78-78) after fading in the playoff hunt. They are just 24-36 since the All-Star break.
Kutter Crawford (9-15) pitched a career-high 7 2/3 innings, allowing three runs and eight hits with seven strikeouts and no walks.
Minnesota’s Kyle Farmer extended his hitting streak to 13 games.
In the first game of a doubleheader, Triston Casas homered in his first three at-bats and drove in seven runs Sunday in the first game of a doubleheader, leading the Red Sox to an 8-1 victory over the Minnesota Twins.
With a chance to match a historic feat, Casas was retired on a grounder in his fourth and final at-bat.
In their bid for an AL wild-card spot, the Twins have lost 12 of their last 18 games.
Nick Pivetta (6-11) allowed one run in five innings. Venezuelan Pablo Lopez (15-9) took the loss.
The record for home runs in a game is four, and has been reached 18 times in the Major Leagues.
The last player to do so was JD Martinez on September 4, 2017, when he was playing for Arizona against the Los Angeles Dodgers. No player in the American League has done it since Josh Hamilton, playing for Texas, against the Baltimore Orioles on May 8, 2012.
In the first of the doubleheader, for the Red Sox, Venezuelan Wilyer Abreu went 1-for-4.
For the Twins, Puerto Rican Willi Castro was 1-for-4 with one run scored.
In the second of the doubleheader, for the Twins, Puerto Ricans Willi Castro 0-for-3 with one RBI, Christian Vázquez 2-for-4 with one run scored.
For the Red Sox, Mexican-American Jarren Duran was 1-for-4 with two runs scored and two RBIs. Venezuelan Wilyer Abreu was 0-for-3 with one run scored. Dominican Enmanuel Valdez was 2-for-4 with one run scored.
