Off to a frustrating 14-21 start, Monday was one of the most enjoyable nights of the season for the Red Sox, even though the rain dragged it out. Though the crowd of 29,706 was notably smaller after the delay, those who stayed created an energy that Story and his teammates fed off.

For the Red Sox, who haven’t won a series at home this season, it was important for the homestand to get off to an auspicious start. The fact that it came against the Astros, the team that defeated the Sox in six games in last year’s American League Championship Series, made it even more significant.

Outlasting Houston through a long rain delay to win a close one. The Sox offense was shut down early, but they put some runs on the board in the middle innings while Houston was staying right with them run for run. But the Red Sox had the last laugh, with Matt Strahm coming through in the bullpen and giving the offense some time to open up a three-run lead that would be held in the ninth for the win.

Garrett Whitlock was back for another start despite the argument that the team would be better served as a reliever. Whitlock actually allowed the first two runners to reach base, but was able to come back with two huge strikeouts after that and ultimately get out of the inning without any runs coming across. Fortunately, he was able to get back under control after that first inning, getting some help from his defense as well. 

In the fourth, the Red Sox quickly ended the perfect game bid with a solid base hit from Enrique Hernández, who moved up to second on a J.D. Martinez single and then third when Xander Bogaerts loaded the bases with a walk. It seemed like a big chance to put up a crooked number, but Boston would settle for just one, and on a weird play at that. Alex Verdugo blooped one into center field that fell in just in front of a diving Chas McCormick. Hernández came in to score, but Martinez didn’t move very far off of third base and was cut down on third base, officially making it a fielder’s choice.

The 1-0 lead wouldn’t last long, unfortunately. McCormick led off the top half of the fifth, and Whitlock made his biggest mistake of the game, leaving a hanging slider up in the zone and right over the plate. McCormick jumped all over it, sending it 408 feet out to center field for a solo homer and tying the game just two pitches into the inning. 

The better news is the Red Sox then got that run right back, in large part thanks to Franchy Cordero. He showed off his hard contact skills to start the inning, putting a bullet off the Monster for a leadoff double. A couple batters later, he’d make an impressive read on a ground ball to move up to third before coming in when a pitch from Odorizzi got to the backstop, putting Boston back out in front by a run. The inning then ended on a pretty routine ground ball, but as Odorizzi went to potentially cover first base he just collapsed and had to be taken out on a stretcher due to what looked like some kind of leg injury. 

Also not looking great was the Red Sox pitching in the sixth with rain starting to come down at Fenway. Whitlock started the inning and allowed the first two batters to reach before Alex Cora called upon Jake Diekman to try and keep the lead. It wasn’t a great start for the southpaw, who walked the first batter he saw to load the bases. He did follow it up with the first out of the inning, but it came on a fly ball plenty deep enough to get a run across and tie the game. That was all Houston got, though, as Diekman got another fly ball for the second out before John Schreiber came on for a big strikeout to end the inning with the score tied at two apiece.

That rain picked up as the inning went along, and we went into a rain delay that’d last more than 90 minutes before picking things back up in the bottom of the sixth with Rafael Devers ripping a single into left field. Unfortunately, Martinez followed that up with another hard-hit ball, but one hit right at Alex Bregman at third. Not only was Martinez out, but Devers was doubled up at first base to quickly wipe out his single.

With Matt Barnes coming on for the seventh, things didn’t go well. That inning started with a double on a relatively weak fly ball to left field that got by a sliding Verdugo, and then the runner was moved up to third on a sacrifice bunt. That brought José Altuve to the plate, who quickly shot one back up the middle for a base hit, giving Houston the 3-2 lead. Altuve was the last batter Barnes faced, with Matt Strahm coming on and hitting the first batter he faced. Fortunately, that was the only trouble he found with two big strikeouts after that to end the inning.

And as this game had been going before the rain, the two sides continued to exchange blows. This time it was the long ball for Boston, with Story hitting his first Fenway homer of his Red Sox career. He got a slider that caught too much of the plate and he sent it over everything in left field for a solo shot, and we were again all tied up.

Strahm then came back out to work around a two-out double for a scoreless eighth before Hernández set the Red Sox up in the bottom half with a leadoff double ahead of the meat of the order. Devers couldn’t get the run home, but Martinez picked him up by smacking a double into the left-center field gap to give the Red Sox a 4-3 lead. Bogaerts then added some much-needed insurance considering how this bullpen has performed late in one-run games this year, smashing a two-run shot to extend the lead to three.

Now it was just up to Hansel Robles to not implode. He managed to avoid that, getting through the ninth without allowing a run to close out the 6-3 win.