The Boston Red Sox have a week’s worth of games remaining and are one game ahead of the Cleveland Guardians and Houston Astros in the American League Wild Card race.
Offensively, Boston has struggled since Roman Anthony went down with an oblique injury. They squandered several opportunities, leaving runners on base in seemingly every inning for two weeks.
The Red Sox started a three-game series with the Tampa Bay Rays on Friday, and the offense woke up. In the first game, they scored 11 runs. In the second, opportunities were harder to come by, but they still managed to scrape six runs across the board.
Trevor Story has been at the center of the offense all season. He leads the team in home runs and runs batted in. He’s hit .287 with runners in scoring position, fourth best on the team. After missing games in each of the last three seasons, Story is appreciating every opportunity that comes his way.
“I’m always excited about those moments because I know I missed a lot of time the last few years, so the opportunities mean a lot to me,” Story said.
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Story came to the plate with a runner on second in a tie game in the ninth inning on Saturday. He came through once again, lacing a single to right field to score the go-ahead run. Story has cut down on his strikeout rate this season, in part due to his willingness to shoot the ball to right field in two-strike counts.
The Red Sox went on to score two more runs in the inning, taking a three-run lead. Aroldis Chapman came on for the save, and the Red Sox beat the Rays. 6-3.
