It was only fitting that the Red Sox quarterback returned on the first Saturday of the NFL season.

“He’s the quarterback,” manager Alex Cora said of Trevor Story, who returned after missing 133 games with what was thought to be a season-ending shoulder injury, and helped the Red Sox beat the visiting Chicago White Sox 7-5. “That’s what we envisioned in the offseason.”

“It means a lot,” Story said upon hearing about the title. “I think shortstop is a very prideful position, and good teams have good ones.”

With Story bringing his defensive acumen to the diamond (and driving in a run), the Red Sox looked more complete than they had in weeks. Cooper Criswell gave them five innings, Tyler O’Neill hit two home runs, Romy Gonzalez collected three hits, stole three bases, and scored twice, and Kenley Jansen nailed down the save.

Of course, their opponents have taken incompleteness to historic levels: the White Sox have only won 32 games all season, and this is their 19th consecutive series loss. They broke their franchise single-season loss record last weekend, and are on pace to break the modern MLB loss record set by the 1962 New York Mets, who went 40-120-1 (different times) in their inaugural season.

But the Red Sox are far from perfect. Amidst Story’s 133-game absence, the Red Sox racked up an MLB-leading 102 errors. Entering the day, no other American League team had erred more than 85 times. That team would be the White Sox.

From the first out, the ball found Story often. His capable glove was a key reason Criswell was able to get through five innings without striking out a batter. The Red Sox right-hander gave up a two-out single and home run to Andrew Benintendi and Andrew Vaughn in the top of the first, then held the White Sox scoreless the rest of the way. Criswell finished the night with six hits and two walks.

“It was nice to get that first one out of the way,” Story said. “I felt like it was a busy night.”

Cora, meanwhile, stacked the lineup with every right-handed hitter he could find to face formidable lefty Garrett Crochet. Connor Wong even started at first base, instead of Triston Casas.

Crochet entered the game with a 3.61 ERA over 28 starts, and on pace to become the first White Sox southpaw to strike out 200 batters in a season since Chris Sale. However, Crochet was on a pitch limit of about 60, and the Red Sox forced him to go more than halfway to that cutoff in the bottom of the first. He needed 36 pitches to get through the frame, because Jarren Duran led off with a single, Rafael Devers followed with a double, and Rob Refsnyder’s groundout got Boston on the board. O’Neill’s first homer of the night caromed off the Plymouth Rock assurance sign in the left corner of the Green Monster, giving Boston a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.

Gonzalez, who was drafted by and debuted with the White Sox, spent the night reminding his former club what they gave up. He began the 12th three-hit, three-steal performance in Red Sox history – the second this season (Duran, April 1) – by following O’Neill’s homer with a single and two stolen bases. Gonzalez then scored Boston’s fourth run of the first inning when Wong doubled high off the Monster.

Despite pitching a scoreless second inning and only being at 51 pitches, Crochet didn’t return for the third. It matched his shortest start of the season, not including Chicago’s Aug. 27 game, which went into a delay and was suspended after he’d thrown just four pitches in the top of the first.

The Red Sox tacked on another two runs in the third thanks to Gonzalez’s RBI double and Story’s RBI single, and O’Neill led off the fifth with a first-pitch solo homer. His second bomb of the night soared over the National Car Rental Sign between the light towers atop the Green Monster. He’s the first Red Sox player to have as many as six multi-homer games in a season since David Ortiz in 2014.

“JD and Raffy started things off awesome for us, we just kept the line moving from there,” O’Neill said.

Thus, the Red Sox took a 7-2 lead into the seventh against a White Sox that was 0-70 when trailing after six. Enter the Boston bullpen, which owns the worst ERA in the Majors since the All-Star break. Even worse than the White Sox.

In the ballpark where he used to wear No. 16 for the Red Sox, Andrew Benintendi took rookie Chase Shugart deep. Benintendi’s 16th home run of the season cut Boston’s lead to two in the seventh, uncomfortably close for a team that has given away too many late leads to count since the break.

Benintendi made it close, but there would be no cigar. Justin Slaten and Kenley Jansen held down the fort in the eighth and ninth, bringing home the win.

Story’s injury occurred during the team’s opening road trip, making Saturday his 2024 Fenway debut. He hadn’t played at Fenway in 347 days, but for the first several months of his recovery from the April shoulder surgery, he thought he’d be waiting until next year.

“We didn’t even think I would be here at this point, and it feels like forever ago that I was kind of here fielding questions about having a season-ending injury, so just so grateful for the opportunity to do it,” he said. “It was great. The best fans in baseball, the best place to play, too. So just feeling that energy; I feel it when I’m in the dugout watching the boys over the season, but there’s nothing like being out there and playing, so I’ll never take that for granted.”

Bello pushed back

Brayan Bello’s Sunday start has been pushed back to Monday so as to help Tanner Houck, whom Cora said didn’t rebound from his last outing the way they wanted.

According to a team source, Richard Fitts was in Boston on Saturday night, with the expectation that he’ll be called up to make his MLB debut on Sunday as the Red Sox starter. He was slated to start for Triple-A Worcester in Rochester on Sunday.

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Source: Tampa Bay Times