TORONTO — Red Sox shortstop Trevor Story’s fifth throwing error in the past seven games proved costly.
Story’s errant throw to first base with no outs in the sixth inning Thursday forced first baseman Nathaniel Lowe off the bag and allowed Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to reach. The Blue Jays went on to score six runs in the sixth inning and beat Boston 6-1 at Rogers Centre.
“You obviously don’t want to make those type of errors because it leads to big innings,” Story said. “You can’t do that. … There’s been times that this has happened. You’ve just got to be aggressive. I think that’s the way I play shortstop. And when I don’t, things like that happen. You can see it just is not as aggressive as it usually is. So that’s usually where the throwing stuff comes.”
Story has made six errors in the past seven games. Five have come on throws to first base.
“I think just not finishing the play,” Story said. “Late in the season, I think, your body can get tired, but that’s no excuse. It’s really just not finishing the play. So it’s on me. I gotta be obviously very diligent about finishing the throw. That’s where it’s come from.”
After Guerrero reached on Story’s error, starter Brayan Bello walked Addison Barger and hit Anthony Santander with a pitch to load the bases. Manager Alex Cora brought in left-handed reliever Justin Wilson to face left-handed hitter Daulton Varsho, who crushed a 371-foot grand slam to right-center field.
“We didn’t make the play and then he (Bello) kind of like lost command there,” Cora said.
Cora added about Story’s throws to first base: “Out of rhythm. Some of them. That one, I actually thought he was going to do a 360 and throw it, but he decided to stay there and he threw away.”
Story underwent major elbow surgery in January 2023 and major shoulder surgery April 2024, limiting him to 69 games total in 2023-24. He has appeared in 155 of Boston’s 159 games this year.
When asked about how his arm feels at this point of the season, Story replied, “It feels good. Yeah, it feels great. Obviously, it’s been a long season, but no problems there.”
The Red Sox had a chance to clinch a postseason berth but must now wait until at least Friday when they host the Tigers at Fenway Park.
“It’s the beautiful thing about baseball is we have an opportunity tomorrow to do it and come back and do it at home,” Story said. “So probably be better at home. We can do it in front of our fans and with our families.”
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