Trevor Story had a costly error and struck out three times for the Red Sox on Sunday. (Photo By Winslow Townson/Getty Images)Getty Images
BOSTON — Entering Sunday, Red Sox shortstop Trevor Story had not committed an error in 20 straight games. The end of that streak proved costly in a loss to the Rays.
With Tampa Bay up 1-0 in the third inning and a man on second with one out, the ultra-speedy Chandler Simpson hit a chopper to Story’s right. As runner Nick Fortes tried to take third in front of Story, the shortstop tried to backhand the ball, only for it to skip off his glove and trickle into left field. Fortes came around to score and so did Simpson, two batters later, on a Ben Williamson RBI single.
The error put the Red Sox (and starter Payton Tolle) in an early, avoidable hole in a game they lost 4-1. Afterwards, Story took responsibility.
“I saw it to my right and I saw that he (Fortes) was going to third. I thought for a split second I should get him out and it kinda took my focus off the ball a little bit,” Story said. “It’s on me.
“It shows that it’s tough to win in this league making mistakes like that. Can’t happen. You’ve seen the way we can play when we are playing good defense. It’s a strong suit of ours this year. That one’s on me and I have to clean that one up.”
With Simpson — and a 29.4 ft/s sprint speed that ranks among the 16 fastest runners in baseball — running, Story had to move fast if he wanted to have a play at first. That wasn’t the biggest factor and Fortes didn’t block Story’s vision, the shortstop said. It was more about indecisiveness about where to throw.
“It was more of the hesitation on if I wanted to get the runner at third in front of me or not,” Story explained. “Just hesitated a bit and that’s all it takes. I got the tough hop, and if I was playing more aggressive, I would have gotten a better hop. That’s what it came down to.”
Tampa Bay’s other two runs came on a Junior Caminero solo homer in the first and a Cedric Mullins sacrifice bunt in the sixth. That was enough against a Red Sox offense that didn’t get much going against Nick Martinez and a group of strong Rays relievers.
“That’s their game,” Story said of the small-ball Rays. “They’re doing things that are old-school baseball and finding ways to get it done.
“It puts a lot of pressure on the defense. Obviously, they’re winning a lot of games that way.”
For Story, the moment was a reminder of some early-season struggles on defense. After a throwing slump at the end of last season, he opened the year with four errors in his first 15 games. Sunday’s was his first miscue since April 14 — and only Boston’s fifth error in the last 24 games. Entering Sunday, the Red Sox led baseball in defensive runs saved (32).
“I think he’s been great,” said interim manager Chad Tracy. “I think all of them have been great, at least in my time here. My broad overview of the time here has been, ‘Man, we catch the ball.’ We’ve done a very, very good job of that.
“It (the defense) has been so good that it’s going to happen from time to time. We’ve got to be able to recover.”
Story’s struggles at the plate also continued Sunday. He doubled but struck out three times, marking the sixth time in 38 games he has struck out at least three times. Story is hitting .200 with 55 strikeouts, a .236 on-base percentage and a .520 OPS through his first 38 games. Statistically, he has been one of the worst hitters in baseball since Opening Day.
“It’s tough to go through in the moment,” he said. “I have confidence I can do it because I’ve done it before. It’s very similar to last year. Takes one game, takes one pitch and I’m always optimistic about it. I’m not gonna sit here and pout about it or sit here and feel sorry for myself.
“It’s more about trying to do too much in the moment. As hitters, we can red-line without knowing it. Sometimes, just trying to touch it works better. That’s where we’re at now because we’ve been working and the work is really good. That’s the frustrating part, that the work is great, then the game comes and it hasn’t executed in the game.”
