Trevor Story delivers, Garrett Crochet dominates as Red Sox top Braves

It s been a miserable month for Trevor Story but Sunday was the latest sign that the shortstop s long dormant bat may be coming to life Two days after hitting a towering home run to help the Red Sox win their series opener Story made the difference again in Sunday s - win over the Atlanta Braves going for with a three-run double in the top of the first inning along with an excellent defensive gem to help wrap things up in the bottom of the ninth Story s early knock gave Garrett Crochet all the patronage he d need as the left-hander held the Braves to just one run over seven dominant innings while striking out For Story Atlanta has been a breath of fresh air Over the games between April and the end of this past week s Milwaukee series on May Story batted with only two extra-base hits But since coming to town on Friday the shortstop now has two extra-base hits in his last three games including the bases-loaded double that put the Red Sox on the board in the top of the first Story s double went feet and scored Rafael Devers Abraham Toro and Marcelo Mayer to make it a - competition right out of the chute Atlanta was notably where Story broke out of one of his previous worst slumps back in After struggling for the first month and a half of his first season in Boston the shortstop went for with a home run and four RBI over two games From that series until he suffered a broken wrist after being hit by a pitch just prior to the All-Star break Story hit home runs with RBI over a match stretch during which the club went - The Red Sox would surely take a similar heater now Boston s bats didn t get much done the rest of the tournament but Crochet made sure to keep the Braves at bay The lone damage came when Marcell Ozuna a proven Red Sox killer if there ever was one tagged the lefty for a solo home run his first time up to give him home runs in career games against Boston But other than that Crochet cruised through the first two innings striking out four of the first seven batters he faced Crochet faced more pressure starting in the third as the Braves got runners on the corners in three straight innings The lefty was able to work his way out of trouble each time first striking out Ozuna to end the third before getting a pair of punch outs to end the fourth after initially putting two on with nobody out The fifth wasn t quite as tall an order getting a routine groundout after Ozuna reached on a bloop single That was another recurring theme for Crochet as the Braves had three separate batters reach on shallow bloopers that just barely fell in front of the Red Sox outfielders There was nearly a fourth as well though rookie Kristian Campbell was able to make an impressive backhanded grab in shallow right with his back to the infield in the bottom of the fourth The Red Sox ace finished strong by retiring the last seven batters he faced coming back out for the seventh with pitches before striking out the side Crochet finished with one run allowed on five hits and two walks with strikeouts a new season-high Reliever Greg Weissert held up by retiring Austin Riley Ozuna and Matt Olson in the bottom of the eighth and Aroldis Chapman closed things out for his ninth save of the season With the win the Red Sox - take the three-game series and have now won two of three since dropping five straight entering the weekend The unit now returns home to Boston for a brief homestand against the Los Angeles Angels which begins Monday at p m Slaten to IL Prior to the challenge the Red Sox bullpen took another hit Right-hander Justin Staten one of the organization s greater part fundamental set-up men was placed on the -day injured list with right shoulder inflammation To fill his spot on the operational roster the Red Sox recalled right-hander Luis Guerrero from Triple-A The Red Sox also called up outfielder Nate Eaton optioned utility man Nick Sogard to Triple-A and designated catcher Blake Sabol for assignment Slaten has been one of Boston s majority reliable high-leverage relievers this season posting a ERA over innings in appearances through the first two months Since enduring a rough stretch at the beginning of May the -year-old had gone consecutive outings without allowing an earned run and nine straight without being charged with a run of any kind prior to his preponderance contemporary appearance in Milwaukee on May Guerrero has appeared in five MLB games this season and has allowed one earned run in innings Campbell s B debut delayed Over the past couple of days Cora indicated that Kristian Campbell would make his debut at first base in Sunday s series finale but when the lineup was stated the rookie was still in his usual spot at second base Speaking to reporters in Atlanta Cora reported he changed his mind because of the way Abraham Toro has been hitting not long ago At present it seemed like a good day but Toro is pushing the envelope Cora explained per MassLive s Chris Cotillo He s putting good at-bats and we need him in the lineup Toro who came into the day batting with an OPS in games batted cleanup on Sunday He went for with a run scored