Red Sox’ Trevor Story continues dominance over Marlins this weekend with three-run homer in 7-5 victory

The Red Sox returned home to Fenway Park this weekend, and Trevor Story has been the catalyst behind back-to-back wins over the Miami Marlins.

It was a storybook ending on Friday night when the Sox’ shortstop delivered in the bottom of the ninth with a walk-off single, a Major League-leading 10th of the season.

Fast-forward to Saturday afternoon: Story took care of business with a single and then scored in the first inning, followed by him belting his 19th homer, a three-run blast into the Green Monster in the third off Cal Quantrill, en route to a 7-5 win before a sellout crowd of 36,192 at Fenway Park.

Boston has their ace Garrett Crochet on the mound on Sunday as they look to sweep Miami in three games.

The Sox have a history with Quantrill, as he was involved in a bench-clearing incident with former catcher Reese McGuire back in 2024 during the Sox' visit to the Rockies. The righty had no answers for the Sox on Saturday, allowing seven runs on eight hits in just 3 1/3 innings of work.

Roman Anthony (2-for-4) singled to lead off the home half of the first, and then he stole second base. Story’s single moved Anthony to third before he stole second base and improved to 22-for-22 in stolen base attempts this season, which is a new club record. Masataka Yoshida delivered a two-run single to right field, giving the Red Sox a 2-0 lead.

The Sox’ rookie has been adapting quite nicely to being in the leadoff spot.

“I think just understanding the guys I have behind me, it makes it a lot more comfortable on me,” said Anthony. “Just trying to be perfect with getting a pitch to hit and making sure it’s something I can do damage with and not leaving it up to the guys behind me and taking my walks.”

Anthony turned a single into a double (17th) in the third inning. Boston leads the majors in doubles this season.

“We’re constantly getting out of the box (quickly),” Anthony said. “We’re trying to put pressure on the defense as much as we can, and we put an emphasis on that. Pre-game, we’re constantly talking about it, trying to stretch an extra 90 (feet) and really put that pressure on other teams so that they know we’re going to do everything we can to apply the pressure.

“I think for me, or for anyone, that always gets the boys going, gets everyone going, gets the stadium going. That’s how you play the game—you play the game hard, and good things happen."

Alex Bregman walked before Jarren Duran smoked a double into right field, making it 3-0. He’s slashing .331/.443/.503/.946 over his last 39 games. Story stepped to the plate and hit an 80.8 mph curveball into the Monster, and Boston was up big, 6-0. He's has driven in 18 runs over his last 16 games and is batting .355 with a 1.049 OPS over that stretch. In his last 64 games, he’s batting .299 and owns a .860 OPS with 12 homers and 56 RBI.

“He feels like he has a chance every at-bat,” said Alex Cora. “At one point in May he feels like he was overmatched and made some adjustments. He’s doing a lot of things great right now. It’s fun to watch.”

One more Story fun fact: his three-run homer on Saturday was his seventh three-run blast of the year, which is tied for the most in the majors with Junior Caminero, Seiya Suzuki, and Pete Alonso.

Boston tacked on one more run in the fourth inning after Ceddanne Rafaela doubled into left field and then scored on Bregman’s two-out single.

Story made a tremendous play in the second inning after Otto Lopez hit a grounder deep into the hole at short, and he fired a jump throw to first to take the hit away.

Cora praised his shortstop for his overall play and leadership.

“It’s been a great season, let’s put it that way,” said Cora. “He had one bad month. So, he’s been very consistent in everything: running the bases, hitting the ball hard, driving in runs, playing great defense, and leading the group.

“Since the (Rafael Devers) trade, he was one of the guys, very vocal about it in the clubhouse and making sure that we stayed the course, and I couldn’t be more proud. He’s been amazing for us.”

Brayan Bello bounced back from a rough start in San Diego, holding the Marlins to four hits and two runs, a pair of solo homers, with no walks in 6 1/3 innings. He left the game in the seventh inning with a pair of base runners, but the Fenway Faithful gave him a standing ovation as he walked off the field. He threw just 78 pitches, 52 for strikes, over the course of his outing. Bello earned the win and is now 8-7 on the season.

“Today he was efficient,” Cora said of Bello on Saturday to reporters. “Velo was up, the changeup was good. Induced them to weak contact early in counts, and did more than enough.”

Justin Wilson struck out Marlins pinch-hitter Dane Myers and got out of the seventh by getting Derek Hill to foul out. He has a 2.61 ERA in 46 appearances this season, easily one of Craig Breslow’s better free agent signings in his first two seasons leading the front office.

Steven Matz took care of the fish in the eighth inning before turning the ball over to Isaiah Campbell in the ninth. Unfortunately, the righty made things a little dicey, allowing three runs on four hits in 2/3 innings. He has a 7.04 ERA this season, and it begs the question as to how much longer the Red Sox will keep him on the 40-man roster.

Cora went to his closer, Aroldis Chapman, who retired Javier Sanoja on a grounder to shortstop for his 22nd save.

“It’s not perfect, but he came in, did his job, and hopefully we can do it better the next time,” said Cora. “Probably we’ll stay away from him (Sunday)… Somebody else has to step up.”

The Red Sox’ win on Saturday was their 16th in their last 18 games at Fenway Park. They’re 18-3 in the last 21 games, dating back to June 30. Boston will give the ball to Crochet (13-5, 2.48 ERA) on Sunday afternoon. He will look to erase a poor outing from his last start against the Astros. The Marlins will counter with RHP Janson Junk (6-2, 4.06).