Red Sox
Story’s home run would have also been gone in MLB’s 29 other ballparks.
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Until Trevor Story’s home run in the fifth inning against the Baltimore Orioles Friday night, the Boston Red Sox had not scored a run since Sept. 26. That marked 23 consecutive innings played by the last-place Red Sox without scoring a run.
Story clobbered a 413-foot homer to Camden Yards’ left field to drive in Rob Refsnyder and himself. The 107-mile-per-hour shot broke a scoreless tie midway through the contest. The home run would have been gone in MLB’s 29 other ballparks.
Refsnyder reached base with a double to left field in the at-bat prior to Story’s.
To that point, Orioles’ starting pitcher John Means had retired 13 straight Boston batters. Means tossed 7 ⅓ innings in his last start against the Cleveland Guardians in which he allowed just one run – a solo home run.
As for the Red Sox’ home run hitter against Baltimore’s hurler, Story entered Friday’s game with a .197 batting average through 40 games. The shortstop missed the majority of the season recovering from offseason right elbow surgery.
Friday night’s fifth-inning long ball marked Story’s third of his shortened 2023 season. His most recent home run, a three-run shot, came on Sept. 14 against the New York Yankees.
While Story’s second season as a Red Sox probably didn’t go as planned, he is looking forward to a healthy offseason and making an impact in 2024. Boston manager Alex Cora recently showered the 30-year-old with praise as he has contributed to the Red Sox since making his season debut in early Aug.
“His interest is to win,” manager Alex Cora said to The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier. “He didn’t come here just to play baseball. He came here to win championships. He wants to be involved. He’s all-in. He wants to be better. He knows that he needs to be better, too, for us to be a good team.”
After spending a few weeks rehabbing in Boston’s minor league system prior to returning to the major league club this year, Story was inspired to host a camp for Red Sox minor league players in the Dallas, Texas area this winter. The shortstop recalled attending a similar camp held by two-time Gold Glover Troy Tulowitzki when he was a minor leaguer.
“It was probably the singularly most impactful thing I did in the Minor Leagues,” Story told MLB.com’s Ian Browne. “He invited me out to his home in Vegas. We worked out for a week straight. He took me through his routine. The way he put it was, ‘This is how you want to work to be an All-Star, to be one of the best shortstops in the game’. After that, I was hooked.”
Story said he will “definitely” be inviting fellow Boston shortstop Marcelo Mayer, who is currently at the Double-A level in the minors. He said the camp will mostly consist of infielders, but he encourages “anyone” to attend as the camp will also incorporate batting drills.
Once Story’s winter camp comes to an end, his full focus will be on the 2024 campaign. It’s clear the Red Sox’s major 2022 free agent signing wants to make the most of his contract very soon.
“I signed up to do a job here, and I know I can do it,” Story told Speier. “And that’s part of the thing that keeps me up at night a little bit.
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