BOSTON -- The Red Sox struck again in their City Connect Fenway Greens, walking off on Trevor Story's RBI single to right in the bottom of the ninth for a 2-1 win over the Marlins on Friday night at Fenway Park.
Sound familiar?
Boston improved to 5-3 this season in the team’s new green tops, and all five wins have been of the walk-off variety. In total, the Sox have walked off 10 times, the most in the Majors this season.
Story was the latest to be mobbed by his teammates. When he came up with the bases loaded and none out thanks to a Marlins implosion (two straight walks and a hit batter), the key was not trying to do too much.
“I think in those bigger situations, less is more,” Story said. “You feel all the energy. You feel the excitement of everything. So for me, it was just trying to shoot something like that somewhere and hit the ball hard, put the barrel on it, and keep the effort low.”
While it’s tempting to say the green uniforms have some magic in them, the truth is that the Red Sox (67-56) have dominated in whatever color they’ve worn at Fenway for more than two months.
Of late, they’ve taken it to another level. Manager Alex Cora’s club is 15-2 at home since July 7, 17-3 since June 30 and 24-6 since June 30. Boston is 40-22 at Fenway Park compared to 27-34 on the road.
While the crowd is feeding off the success of their team, the club is also gaining traction from its rabid fan base as the Red Sox sit 1 1/2 games behind Seattle (68-55) for the top American League Wild Card spot.
“I believe so,” Cora said. “They make a difference here, and it's getting louder and louder. This is Fenway Park and it should be uncomfortable to the opposition. And I think they're doing a good job lately. We talk about the home record and the road record. That last at-bat, it matters.
“You look at our games in the ninth inning on the road or extra innings, it hasn't happened, but here it's happening. We're doing a good job. We're playing good defense. We run the bases well here. So, everything is coming together.”
The fans are noticing. Friday’s crowd of 36,854 gave the Sox their 12th consecutive home sellout, and 19th this season.
Late-inning magic didn’t seem to be in the forecast when Miami ace Sandy Alcantara was perfect for four innings and took a shutout with him into the sixth.
Ceddanne Rafaela led off the sixth with what Cora referred to as the biggest at-bat of the game. Rafaela didn’t hit one over the Monster or even off it. Actually, he struck out. But it was a 10-pitch strikeout that finally made Alcantara break a sweat.
Two batters later, Roman Anthony continued to look like the most poised 21-year-old around, working a full-count walk.
Up stepped Boston’s Mr. Clutch, Alex Bregman, who ripped Alcantara’s 2-2 offering down the line in right for a double that scored Anthony all the way from first and Fenway Park erupted.
To win a game with three hits -- two of them from Story -- requires strong starting pitching and stellar relief.
And the Red Sox got both in this one. Though starter Lucas Giolito gave up some loud contact, he limited the Marlins to one run over 6 1/3 innings in which he scattered seven hits while allowing one run and one walk and striking out five.
As the drama built in the mid-to-late innings, the crowd was on its feet when Giolito got to a two-strike count.
“Now that I've been settled in and part of the rotation and part of this team, this is the best place to pitch, regardless of the Monster and the park [dimensions] and all that kind of stuff,” Giolito said. “Just, the energy that we have as a club when we get to play at home, the fan support, it's been incredible. I always look forward to my starts here.”
The way Alcantara was going, Giolito’s margin for error was tiny.
“I think our lineup top and bottom is so dynamic right now that even a performance like Sandy had tonight, getting us to make a bunch of quick outs, the focus stays there and then it even increases later in the game,” Giolito said. “We have our big guys coming up, and I think all of us were very confident we're going to walk it off there. We did.”
It is becoming a habit.