Change In Offensive Mentality At Center Of Trevor Story’s Walk-Off

Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora wasn’t looking for Trevor Story to hit a home run when the veteran shortstop stepped into the batter’s box with the bases loaded and one out in a tied game in the bottom of the 10th inning.

With the Red Sox offense scuffling throughout their series against the Toronto Blue Jays, Cora wanted Story to take a simplified approach.

“Put the ball in play. Me and (bench coach) Ramón (Vázquez), we were talking about it,” Cora told reporters, per NESN. “Hit it off the end. They might miss it or whatever. You put it in play something can happen. It’s not a strikeout, right?”

Story’s at-bat against Blue Jays reliever Nick Sandlin wasn’t perfect. He got down 0-2 before fighting his way back and hitting a squibber to three-time Gold Glove second baseman Andrés Giménez, who was playing in on the grass with the winning run 90 feet away.

Despite his elite defensive credentials, Giménez couldn’t field the ball cleanly and David Hamilton raced home to lift the Red Sox to a 4-3 walk-off win on Thursday at Fenway Park.

The play probably won’t go on a highlight-reel for Story. But he got the job done. And more importantly, it’s exactly what the Red Sox needed.

“Just given the situation — a funky pitcher on the mound — I was just trying to find a way to get it done,” Story told reporters, per MassLive’s Sean McAdam. “It was a grinder. Just trying to put the ball in play.”

The Red Sox struck out far too much in the series against the Blue Jays. Boston fanned double-digit times in each of its last three games, including racking up 10 strikeouts in the series finale.

Story had a big strikeout in a key situation in Wednesday’s loss when he fanned with a runner on third and one out in the bottom of the 10th inning. So when faced with a very similar situation Thursday, coming through — even if he wasn’t credited with a hit — felt like a little bit of redemption for Story.

“That bothered me a lot,” Story said. “Today, I had a much better plan of attack and I executed it much better than (Wednesday) night.”