ATLANTA -- It was as if Trevor Story took out a month’s worth of frustration on one misfired slider by Braves righty Grant Holmes.
Boston’s slumping shortstop hammered the pitch on the middle, inner quadrant of the strike zone and destroyed it to left field at an exit velocity of 109 mph and a projected distance of 431 feet.
The two-run shot, struck with two outs in the top of the fourth inning, served as the catalyst on Friday night as the Red Sox snapped a five-game losing streak with a 5-1 victory at Truist Park.
For Story, it snapped a drought of 57 at-bats without a homer. It was tied for the third longest homer by a Boston hitter this season, trailing blasts by Rafael Devers that traveled 442 and 440 feet.
“It just felt good to get one in that kind of fashion,” said Story. “It's been a tough month for sure. It feels like six months, but I've really felt better the last few games. I’m feeling better and just trying to keep it as simple as that and try to create some momentum.”
Though there were other important elements to the win -- Lucas Giolito’s strong performance from the mound, Abraham Toro’s amazing stretch play at first, Marcelo Mayer’s diving stop at third and some clutch work by the bullpen -- Story’s homer carried the most significance in the big picture.
With Boston struggling on offense and as a team since Alex Bregman suffered a significant injury to his right quad a week ago, others need to step up.
From the right side of the plate, Story would be an ideal candidate.
“We're all going to step up, especially the righties, to try to cover that production,” said Story. “It's going to be tough [to replace Bregman], but I think if we all could just be ourselves, the best version of ourselves, or something close to it, then we'll be in good shape.”
After a promising start to the season, Story completely lost his mojo at the plate in recent weeks.
In his last 31 games and 122 at-bats entering Friday, Story had a batting line of .131/.191/.164 with just two extra-base hits and 42 strikeouts.
One big swing doesn’t erase a slump, but it gives Story some much-needed confidence.
“I'm always looking for little moments to build on,” Story said. “They've been few and far between this year, but hitting the ball like that can go a long way.”
The 32-year-old Story is healthy for the first time since 2021, and it’s been tough for the proud veteran not to be able to produce for his team, though he continues to play strong defense at shortstop.
In fact, Story and Toro (3-for-4, RBI) combined on a terrific play as the Braves tried to surge back in the seventh. On a grounder by Matt Olson that appeared headed to center field, Story ranged over to snag it and fired to first.
However, the ball skipped, and Toro scooped it from a full diving stretch as he tried valiantly to stay on the bag. Olson was originally called safe with a run scoring, but the Red Sox challenged it, and the call was overturned and the inning was over.
“I mean, it looked close,” said Red Sox manager Alex Cora. “And then [bench coach] Ramón [Vázquez] called [staff assistant] Mikey [Brenly], and there was conviction behind [challenging]. He was like, ‘I think we got it,’ so good job by Mikey. He's good at what he does.”
The toe drag was reminiscent of the one that Steve Pearce pulled off for the final out of the 2018 American League Division Series at Yankee Stadium on a throw from third baseman Eduardo Núñez. On that occasion, the runner was called out and the Yankees challenged, to no avail.
“I thought I had it, I thought I was on the bag, and then they called it safe,” Toro said. “When it got overturned, I was like, ‘Thank God.’ It’s all reaction. It’s just trusting your actions.”
And Story will try to keep trusting his, as his teammates and coaching staff all but try to will him to better results.
“All joking aside, I think we need to be careful because we're cheering for him so much that he probably feels the weight of us,” said Cora. “He [probably feels like] he needs to do it instead of breathing and just sticking to the process and [trusting] the results will happen.”