As Trevor Story rounded first base, he gave a subtle fist pump. No, he wasn’t celebrating his historic 25th home run, nor blast No. 26 that came later.
Rather, he was jubilant over his two-run single in the sixth inning that gave the Rockies a 5-3 lead over Atlanta. Just Story being Story.
“To come up in a key spot like that, to get those two RBIs like that, was huge,” he said. “So I showed a little bit more emotion right there … in instances like that I do.”
His hit sparked a five-run inning that carried the Rockies to an 8-4 victory over the Braves on Saturday in front of a crowd of 46,195 on “Star Wars Night” at Coors Field. It was the Rockies’ third straight win and set up a chance to complete a four-game sweep Sunday afternoon.
Story’s historic chapter came early in Saturday’s game, before a 47-minute rain delay. In the second inning, Story blasted a two-run homer off Atlanta right-hander Matt Wisler to break the National League record for home runs by a rookie shortstop. Story’s homer was his 25th, surpassing former Rockies star Troy Tulowitzki, who hit 24 in 2007.
Story’s 430-foot homer, which came in his first at-bat, drove in Carlos Gonzalez, who reached on a walk. Story had tied Tulo with a two-run blast in Colorado’s 4-3 victory over the Braves on Friday.
“It’s pretty cool,” Story said. “I think it’s cool because Tulo set it before and he’s kind of my mentor and he helped me out a lot. So to break his record is pretty cool.”
But Story wasn’t done. He led off the eighth with homer No. 26, a 445-foot solo blast to center off Jim Johnson. Story has swatted eight home runs in his last 13 games and manager Walt Weiss is running out of superlatives to describe his shortstop.
“I have nothing to say that hasn’t already been said,” offered Weiss with a grin. “He’s having a great year. It seems like he breaks another record every week or so. He just keeps clicking. He’s having a dream season.”
The quiet shortstop is entering rarefied air now. He needs just four homers to match the major-league rookie record for home runs by a shortstop. That mark is owned by Nomar Garciaparra of the Red Sox, who hit 30 in 1997. The overall NL rookie home run record is 38, shared by the Boston Braves’ Wally Berger in 1930 and the Reds’ Frank Robinson in 1956. The major-league rookie mark is 49, set by Oakland’s Mark McGwire in 1987.
Story batted 4-for-4 with a career-high five RBIs and also stole a base. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, he is the first rookie since Kansas City’s Bo Jackson on April 14, 1987 to go 4-for-4 with two homers, five RBIs and a stolen base.
Yes, Story was the story Saturday night, but starter Tyler Anderson is another rookie making his mark this season. The lefty picked up the victory, evening his record to 3-3. He wasn’t exceptionally sharp, but he gave Colorado six innings, allowing three runs on eight hits. He got better as the game went along.
“I think that was definitely the case,” Anderson said. “I was throwing some changeups up and (the Braves) were either getting some hits or they were balls. Some of them were right down the middle. I think later, I was able to get ahead and get in situations where I could use (the changeup).”
In the first six starts of his career at Coors Field, Anderson has four quality starts with a 3.47 ERA. He’s struck out 35 and walked only eight.
He was able to survive two messy innings. In the third, Atlanta first baseman Freedie Freeman looped an apparent one-out single in front of Gonzalez, who misplayed the ball into what looked like a two-base error. The error was later overturned and Freeman was awarded with a triple. Freeman scored easily on Adonis Garcia’s bloop single to tie the game 2-2.
In the fourth, Anthony Recker led off with a single, advanced to second on Anderson’s balk, moved to third on Wisler’s bunt single and scored on Chase d’Arnaud’s sacrifice fly to right to give Atlanta a 3-2 lead.
STORY TIME
Rockies rookies shortstop Trevor Story continues to write baseball history. Here’s what he accomplished Saturday night:
- Hit his 25th and 26th home runs of the season, surpassing the
record for most home runs by rookie shortstop in the National League. (Previous was 24 by Colorado’s Troy Tulowitzki in 2007) - Passed Todd Helton (25 in 1998) for second place for most home runs by a Rockies rookie. The record is held by Wilin Rosario who hit 28 in 2012.
- Batted 4-for-4 with five RBIs and a stolen base, becoming the first rookie to do that since Kansas City’s Bo Jackson Story on April 14, 1987 (according to the Elias Sports Bureau).
