Boston Red Sox first baseman Triston Casas doesn't have many performances like the one he had Saturday against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
And it left the slugger tipping his cap to the Diamondbacks pitchers, particularly starter Zac Gallen.
Casas went 0-for-4 with four strikeouts in the 4-1 loss at Fenway Park. Three of those strikeouts came against Gallen while Arizona lefty reliever A.J. Puk punched out Casas as well. Casas specifically had trouble against Gallen's knuckle curve, which the right-hander used to fan Casas in their first two battles.
"My day was pretty self explanatory," Casas told reporters, as seen on NESN postgame coverage. "You know, he was attacking the zone with multiple different pitches, just like (Ryne) Nelson was (Friday). Except that curveball was on. The metrics were up and especially with two strikes, he was throwing a curveball that was starting as a ball, coming through the zone as a strike and then ending as a ball. It's tough to make a decision on which ones to swing at, especially with two strikes, especially when he's getting ahead with strike one, especially when he's got runners on base and you don't want to roll into double plays and have inning killers.
"So, he just kept going to it and he kept getting swing and miss for it. So credit to him. ... He was mixing up his approach as well. He was starting slow then starting fast. He knows how to navigate a six-inning (start), three times through the lineup. That's why he's one of the best in the game. He was a handful today, for sure."
Casas was far from the only member of the Red Sox to struggle against Gallen and the three relievers the Diamondbacks trotted out to the mound. Boston struck out 13 times while only collecting five hits.
It's just the second time Casas has gone hitless in a game after being sidelined for nearly four months with a rib injury. Casas has recorded multi-hit showings in four out of his eight games since returning to the Red Sox lineup on Aug. 16.
So, a four-strikeout performance from the 24-year-old wasn't going to strike fear into Red Sox manager Cora.
"We didn't talk about that in Houston," Cora told reporters, as seen on NESN postgame coverage. "I mean, that guy's really good. He made some pitches. He got him on a few fastballs, he used his breaking ball. So, he'll turn the page and be ready for tomorrow. That's for sure."
Here are more notes from Saturday's Red Sox-Diamondbacks game:
-- Kutter Crawford battled on the mound, but didn't get the result he wanted. He tossed five innings in which he allowed two runs on three hits with two walks and three strikeouts.
"Kind of mediocre," Crawford told reporters of his start, as seen on NESN postgame coverage. "Didn't get ahead as much as I wanted to. Didn't throw enough strikes.''
-- Mickey Gasper got his first MLB start at second base, but he's still looking for the first hit of his big league career. He went 0-for-4 in the loss with three strikeouts and is hitless in five at-bats with three walks since joining the Red Sox on Aug. 12.
-- Diamondbacks second baseman Luis Guillorme turned in the play of the game when he robbed Masataka Yoshida of a hit to start the bottom of the seventh. Guillorme went into a superman dive to snare a grounder and threw onto first while he rolled over. The play certainly impressed Cora and reminded the Red Sox skipper of a Hall of Famer.
"That play by Guillorme, that was amazing," Cora said. "Just remind me of Robbie Alomar, to be honest with you. Just lay out and then turn and put it on the money. That was a great play."
-- Connor Wong didn't have the best day behind the plate for the Red Sox. He wasn't charged with any passed balls, but three pitches got by him, one of which led to a run for the Diamondbacks to extend their lead in the top of the seventh.
-- The Red Sox are now a puzzling 29-34 at Fenway Park this season.
"It's definitely frustrating," Crawford said. "These fans pay a lot of money to come support us night in, night out, day in, day out. So, yeah, it's disappointing that we can't play better for them."
-- The Red Sox and Diamondbacks close out their three-game interleague series from Fenway Park on Sunday. Tanner Houck will get the start on the mound for Boston. First pitch is scheduled for 1:35 p.m. ET and you can watch the game, plus an hour of pregame coverage, on NESN.
