It’s typically a winning day at the ballpark for the Boston Red Sox if Trevor Story hits a homer.
Story went deep in the series opener and will look to flirt again with the fences on Tuesday when the Red Sox face the Athletics in the middle contest of a three-game series in West Sacramento, Calif.
Story hit his 24th homer of the campaign in Monday’s 7-0 victory to help the Red Sox win their second straight game after three consecutive losses. Boston improved to 22-1 this season when Story hits at least one homer in a game.
“Obviously, it’s good,” Story said of the team’s record in games in which he has homered, per MassLive.com. “Home runs are immediate offense. I guess it’s a good thing when I do it, for the team.”
The first-inning blast set the tone for Boston’s 12-hit attack. Story leads the Red Sox in homers, RBIs (90) and steals (27).
Carlos Narvaez hit a high-arching 422-foot homer on a night in which Boston was 5-for-9 with runners in scoring position.
“We did a good job with men in scoring position and putting the ball in play,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “We did a lot of good things.”
Five Boston players had two hits and one RBI on Monday — Story, Narvaez, Jarren Duran, Alex Bregman and Masataka Yoshida.
Romy Gonzalez had an RBI single to extend his hitting streak to 11 games. All 18 of his hits during the streak are singles. He is batting .429 during the tear.
The Red Sox (80-65) are in third place and three games out in the American League East. Boston stands in second place in the AL wild-card race.
The A’s (66-79) had just three hits in the opener while falling for the seventh time in 10 games.
Boston left-hander Garrett Crochet struck out 10 A’s in seven innings. Relievers Zack Kelly and Chris Murphy each pitched a perfect frame.
Athletics manager Mark Kotsay said his club ran into one of the best pitchers in the majors on a night in which all his pitches were working.
“He’s got elite stuff,” Kotsay said of Crochet. “This is a front-line starter that we faced and he showed why. We just couldn’t figure him out. You tip your cap sometimes when you run into No. 1 (starters) who throw the baseball the way they are supposed to.”
The top three hitters in the order for the A’s –Shea Langeliers, Brent Rooker and Nick Kurtz — each went hitless in four at-bats.
“Anytime the top of the order gets shut down, you look for other areas to get one base and have great at-bats,” Kotsay said.
The two clubs are playing for the first time this season. They will play again in a three-game series next week in Boston.
Right-hander Dustin May (7-11, 4.96 ERA) will take the mound for the Red Sox on Tuesday.
May, 28, is 1-4 with a 5.40 ERA in six appearances (five starts) for Boston since being acquired from the Los Angeles Dodgers at the trade deadline.
May pitched three mop-up innings of relief last Wednesday when the Red Sox lost 8-1 to the Cleveland Guardians. He allowed one run and three hits.
May is 2-0 with a 1.64 ERA in two career starts against the A’s. Both came during his time with the Dodgers.
Left-hander Jeffrey Springs (10-10, 4.13) is looking to grab his first victory since July 30.
Springs, 32, is 0-3 with a 4.65 ERA over his past six starts. He lost to the St. Louis Cardinals on Wednesday after giving up two runs and five hits over six innings in a 5-1 game.
Springs is 0-2 with a 3.71 ERA in 13 career appearances (five starts) against the Red Sox. Story (2-for-5), Nathaniel Lowe (2-for-8) and Rob Refsnyder (1-for-5) each have homered off Springs.
–Field Level Media
