Triston Casas hits first Major League home run vs. Rays

ST. PETERSBURG — The first home run in the promising career of No. 2 Red Sox prospect Triston Casas will never be forgotten by Jordan Blatner, a 23-year-old who made an impromptu decision to drive from his home in Orlando, Fla., to Tropicana Field to take in Tuesday night’s contest between Boston and Tampa Bay.

When Casas got ready to swing for what wound up being a two-run homer to right field in an 8-4 loss by the Red Sox, Blatner dropped his phone while in the middle of eating chicken wings.

Blatner got up and went to grab his phone, when he suddenly heard roars. The ball was coming in his direction. In fact, it hit him flush in the arm before landing on the ground. Blatner scooped it up, just excited that he retrieved a souvenir, but he had no idea who hit it or what the significance of it was.

“Literally the only reason I caught the ball is because I dropped my phone,” said Blatner. “I was in the middle and I tried to reach over and I couldn’t reach it. So I walked around and I’m standing. Everybody starts screaming and I see the outfielder running towards the wall, so I try to find it. And then the ball hits me on the arm. I grabbed it. My arm took the impact.”

Still not knowing it was a milestone homer of any kind, Blatner suddenly found himself face-to-face with DJ Kitty, the Rays’ mascot.

“DJ Kitty was trying to get the ball from me,” Blatner said. “I was like, ‘No, I’ve never caught a ball before. I want to keep it.’ And then somebody said it was his first home run.”

Playing in his third Major League game, the home run by the 22-year-old Casas was his second career hit. It wasn’t exactly crushed at an exit velocity of 96.7 mph, a Statcast-projected distance of 371 feet and an expected batting average of .150, but it felt magical for Casas, who likely has many tape-measure shots in his future.

“It felt pretty surreal,” said Casas. “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.”

There was no truth to the rumor that Blatner was trying to hold the ball hostage, especially when he learned the meaning of the homer.

“I was just going to walk over [to the dugout], because I don’t know what I’m supposed to do with it,” Blatner said. “Security and everybody follows me and kind of circles me in and is like, ‘Where are you going?’ I was like, ‘To give the guy his home run ball.’ They were like, ‘No, stay here with us and they’ll come up to you.’”

Red Sox equipment manager Tommy McLaughlin was soon up in the right-field stands to broker a swap with Blatner, who scored pretty nicely with a signed bat and ball from Casas, as well as autographed baseballs by Xander Bogaerts and Rafael Devers.

“I was trying to bring it to the Red Sox’s dugout myself, because I’ve seen stuff all over of people catching historic home run balls and trying to leave with it. Absolutely not,” said Blatner. “This is for him. I’m lucky that I’m even getting anything in return. I really don’t need to be. But thank you.”

With the ball in his possession at the end of the night, Casas had the thrill of presenting it to his father, Jose, who made the trip from South Florida to watch his son play as a big leaguer for the first time.

“It was a really special moment. Something we have been thinking about for a really long time. Growing up, I obviously wanted to be a Major League baseball player. Hitting your first Major League home run, I shared that moment with him, gave him a hug,” said Casas. “He got pretty emotional after I gave it to him. Hopefully this is the first of many.”

Casas was thankful for Blatner’s cooperation.

“Thankfully he was nice enough to give it to me.” Casas said.

Though he was sporting a Rays jersey, Blatner is actually a White Sox fan.

“I bought this ticket this morning because I was like, ‘You know what, I feel like going to a game today.’” Blatner said.

And so he did. On the way back to Orlando, Blatner had some pretty nice memorabilia along for the ride.