When Trevor Story first joined the Red Sox in 2022, it took him several weeks to nail his timing at the plate after getting barely a week’s worth of at bats in spring training.
This year, fresh off an extended rehab assignment following a lengthy recovery from elbow surgery, it appears Story only needed a couple of days.
After starting the year 0 for 9 Story has begun heating up, and on Sunday he delivered his best effort of the season, going 4 for 4 with three doubles, two stolen bases and two runs scored. In each case he was driven in by Adam Duvall, who went 2 for 4 with four RBI, including a towering three-run home run that effectively capped off Boston’s 6-3 win over the Detroit Tigers.
Story started things off with a ground rule double to right field, and his next time up in the third he knocked a single and immediately stole both second and third. Though ruled out initially, the call was overturned on replay and Story trotted home moments later after Duvall’s RBI single made it 3-1.
Story and the Red Sox caught a break his next time up in the fifth when Akil Baddoo lost Story’s towering fly ball in the sun and couldn’t make the catch, and after the Tigers couldn’t field Masataka Yoshida’s subsequent grounder up the middle cleanly, Duvall delivered the dagger with a three-run shot off former Red Sox lefty Eduardo Rodriguez, who was tagged for six runs over five innings with 10 hits, one walk and eight strikeouts.
The shortstop also played a role in arguably the best defensive play of the season for the Red Sox.
In the top of the eighth Tigers outfielder Riley Greene hit a fly ball to left that landed under the glove of the diving Masataka Yoshida. By the time Yoshida corralled the ball Greene was charging to third, and after Story received the relay he threw a dart to third baseman Luis Urias, who flung his arm backwards to tag out Greene just before he reached the bag.
The play ultimately saved at least one run after the Tigers followed with a single and a ground rule double, but Story completed a routine grounder for the third out to cut Detroit’s rally short and leave the Tigers empty handed.
Prior to that the Tigers had initially taken the lead on a run-scoring grounder by Miguel Cabrera in the second, only for the Red Sox to tie it in the bottom of the frame on an RBI triple by Connor Wong. Justin Turner then gave Boston the lead in the third right before Story’s single and steals with a solo home run, his second homer in two days.
While the Tigers got a couple runs back on a solo shot by Baddoo in the fifth and after Matt Vierling reached on a pair of errors by Pablo Reyes and scored on a groundout by Spencer Torkelson in the sixth, Detroit never led again.
Though his outing ended on a down note with the Baddoo homer in the fifth, starting pitcher Kutter Crawford largely got the job done, allowing two runs on three hits and a walk over 4.2 innings of work. Brennan Bernardino got the last out in the fifth before handing the ball off to Garrett Whitlock, who gave up just the unearned run over two otherwise perfect innings in his first game back since July 2.
Chris Martin then fought through a turbulent outing to post a scoreless eighth, and Kenley Jansen closed the door in the ninth for his 27th save of the season.
During the ninth Cabrera also received multiple standing ovations from the crowd, first when he stepped to the plate for his final at bat at Fenway Park and then after the future Hall of Famer returned to the dugout following his flyout to center.
While the Red Sox finish their 10-game homestand 5-5, they wrapped things up on a high note with series victories over Kansas City and Detroit following last weekend’s sweep by Toronto. The Red Sox will now have Monday off before embarking on a 10-game road trip, which begins Tuesday with a three-game series against the Washington Nationals.