Trevor Story returns to the Red Sox lineup, batting seventh and playing shortstop
The Red Sox opened their three-game series with the White Sox with a 3-1 win on Friday from Fenway Park.
Ceddanne Rafaela provided a two-run homer, his 15th of the season, in the bottom of the seventh inning, breaking a 1-1 tie.
“Yeah for us, it was huge. For the team right there, to help the team was pretty good,” said Rafaela, who has been mired in a slump at the plate. “I tried to put up a good at-bat and get a good pitch to keep the train going. It’s just looking for the best pitch I can in that situation to get a good swing.”
Boston will turn the page on Friday night and give the ball to Cooper Criswell; he will be making his 17th start of the season. The righty has pitched well at home, posting a 3.83 ERA. This will be his second career start versus the White Sox.
Criswell is coming off a stellar outing in his last start against the Tigers. He tossed four perfect innings before Alex Cora removed him from the game. The Red Sox ultimately lost the game 4-1, and Cora took criticism for the early hook on Criswell.
“That’s the way we drew it up,” said Cora. “They had a bunch of lefties; he gave us enough, and we went to Rich in that situation. We had a big pocket of lefties and just, the righty burned us.”
Trevor Story returns to the Red Sox lineup, and he will play shortstop and bat seventh. It will be his first game with the Sox since he was injured on April 5 diving for a ball against the Angels. He would suffer a left dislocation of his shoulder and undergo surgery. Story has missed the entire season and will help the Sox stabilize the infield over the next few weeks.
Prior to his injury, Story was hitting .226 with no homers and four RBI and posted a .617 OPS. He went hitless in his last five at-bats before his injury.
Rob Refsnyder will bat third and be the designated hitter against White Sox left-handed starter Garrett Crochet. He will bring a two-game hitting streak (2-for-4) into Saturday night’s game.
Kenley Jansen who has been dealing with a lat issue is expected to play catch before the game. If all goes well and he feels alright, he is likely to pitch in the game on Saturday night. Jansen told the Boston Globe’s Julian McWilliams that he wasn’t going to pitch again until the lat “calmed down.”
The Sox will wear their Nike City Connect Series uniforms. They’re 34-13 overall when wearing them, and 19-9 since the start of 2023. Boston is only 7-6 this season while in uniforms.
Roster moves ahead of the game
With the Red Sox activating Story off the 60-day injured list, the club optioned catcher/second baseman Mickey Gasper to Triple-A Worcester. Injured right-handed pitcher Isaiah Campbell was placed on the 60-day IL, effectively ending his regular season.
Gasper was 0-for-12 with three walks and was hit by a pitch. He played in 10 games, making three starts all at second base.
Campbell has been on the injured list, dealing with right elbow inflammation.
Key stats and Red Sox lineup
White Sox vs. Criswell: Andrew Benintendi 0-1, Corey Julks 0-3, Korey Lee 0-2, Nicky Lopez 1-3, Luis Robert Jr. 1-4, Gavin Sheets 0-1, Lenyn Sosa 1-3, Miguel Vargas 0-2, Andrew Vaughn 2-4
Red Sox vs. Crochet: Rafael Devers 2-4, Jarren Duran 0-3, Danny Jansen 0-2, Tyler O’Neill 0-1, Ceddanne Rafaela 0-2, Rob Refsnyder 2-4, Connor Wong 1-3, Masataka Yoshida 1-1
Red Sox (71-70) lineup vs. the White Sox (32-110):
Jarren Duran LF
Rafael Devers 3B
Rob Refsnyder DH
Tyler O’Neill RF
Romy Gonzalez 2B
Connor Wong 1B
Trevor Story SS
Danny Jansen C
Ceddanne Rafaela CF
SP: RHP Cooper Criswell (5-4, 4.14 ERA)
The first pitch is at 7:10 p.m. and can be seen on Fox and it can be heard on WEEI 93.7 FM.
