Garrett Crochet dominates Braves’ lineup, striking out a season-high 12 batters; Trevor Story’s 3-run double leads offense to series victory

It was a downright brutal month of May for Trevor Story, but the Red Sox veteran shortstop opened the month of June with a key three-run double that helped lead Boston to a 3-1 win over Atlanta on Sunday afternoon.

Story belted a three-run double in the top of the first, just missing a grand slam off Braves starter Bryce Elder, while also adding an excellent defensive gem to help seal the win in the ninth. His double traveled 413 feet, scoring Rafael Devers, Abraham Toro, and Marcelo Mayer to put Boston up 3-0 early.

The Sox’ infielder has been putrid offensively, batting just .154 with two extra-base hits in his last 33 games, dating back to April 19. Since the Sox rolled into Atlanta on Friday night, Story has added two extra-base hits in his last three games, which includes a homer in the series opener.

With the arrival of June, Story now has the opportunity to overcome his disastrous first two months.

“Definitely, you’re looking for little things like that to create some momentum,” Story told NESN’s Jahmai Webster. “What’s in the past is in the past; we can’t harp on it, but we can learn from it. Going forward just trying to be the best athlete I can. Keep it simple; less is more for me a lot of times, so that’s what we’re dialed into right now.”

Story had two hits in the rubber match as he slowly looks like he’s breaking out of his slump at the plate.

The Sox’ offense took an afternoon nap after Story’s offensive outburst in the first. Jarren Duran went 0-for-5 and was hitless in the series in Atlanta and has been hitless in his last 16 plate appearances.

“We need more; there were some at-bats in the middle of the game that we have to correct; we have to be better,” Cora said. “I know we’re young, but we expect better from this group. I think the expectations are high in this group for the organization, and we have to put everything behind us. We have to be better than this. We scored three, which is awesome, but after that we didn’t do much.”

Despite the quiet offense, ace Garrett Crochet kept the Braves under control for the remainder of the afternoon.

Marcel Ozuna, who has been a Red Sox killer at the plate, hit a solo homer off Crochet in the first, his 11th blast against Boston in 24 career games.

Crochet saw some trouble from the third inning on, seeing runners on the corners in three straight frames. The southpaw was able to work out of the jam each time. He struck out Ozuna in the third, avenging the homer he gave up in the first. He also added another two strikeouts in the fourth to end the inning. The fifth inning looked like it was going to spell some trouble for the ace; Ozuna reached on a bloop single; three separate Braves hitters reached base on shallow bloopers in front of Red Sox outfielders. Kristian Campbell made an impressive backhanded grab in shallow right field with his back towards the infield, saving a couple of runs.

Campbell was initially expected to play first base on Sunday, but Cora changed his mind due to the play of Abraham Toro.

“Today, it seemed like a good day, but Toro is pushing the envelope,” Cora said, per MassLive’s Chris Cotillo. “He’s putting up good at-bats, and we need him in the lineup.”

Boston’s ace was excellent, retiring the final seven batters he faced, putting a cherry on top of his outing, and coming back out for the seventh inning with 99 pitches. Crochet finished the day with 12 strikeouts, a new season high. He allowed one run on five hits and two walks over seven frames. His 112 pitches were the most he’s thrown this season and in his career.

“A hundred pitches is this big thing because 100 is a big number, but I was feeling really good, still, even at that pitch count,” said Crochet. It was nice to have the communication we had and for me to go get the job done.

“It felt pretty cool to do it and then punch the side there in the seventh.”

Crochet is not tied for the major league lead in strikeouts with 101 (tied with the Nationals’ MacKenzie Gore). The left-handed hurler leads baseball with 82 innings and the Sox are now 7-6 when he pitches this season.

Alex Cora has been challenging his ace in most of his starts this season. With Boston having five straight Thursdays off, the club can push him while also getting in some much-needed built-in rest.

“When you look back at the Mets, we have to pick and choose, and at that point it looked like, what are they doing? But there’s a reason,” Cora said. “For us to be aggressive, understanding now we’ve got Thursdays off and he’s going to get an extra day, we can be more aggressive. We pushed him to the limit, and he did an outstanding job.”

Relievers Greg Weissert worked a scoreless eighth, and closer Aroldis Chapman slammed the door on the Braves in the ninth for his ninth save of the year. It was Chapman’s first save since May 20. Weissert was one of the few bright spots in the bullpen in the month of May, posting a 2.08 ERA.

Boston will head home beginning Monday for a quick three-game series at Fenway Park against the Angels before heading to the Bronx to play the Yankees for the first time this season.

The Red Sox are expected to have starters Richard Fitts (0-2, 2.70 ERA) pitch on Monday, Brayan Bello (2-1, 3.83 ERA) on Tuesday, and Lucas Giolito (1-1, 4.78 ERA) in the series finale on Wednesday.

SLATEN TO THE IL

The Red Sox bullpen will be without one of its key members for the next two weeks.

The Red Sox placed right-handed set-up man Justin Staten on the 15-day injured list due to right shoulder inflammation. To fill his spot on the active roster, the Red Sox recalled right-hander Luis Guerrero from Triple-A.

Boston made the Nate Eaton promotion official, and the club optioned Nick Sogard to Triple-A Worcester and designated catcher Blake Sabol for assignment.

Losing Slaten is a blow to the bullpen, posting a 3.47 ERA over 23.1 innings in 24 appearances through the first two months. Guerrero has appeared in five MLB games this season and has allowed one earned run in 5 1/3 innings.