Roman Anthony expected to return on Sunday

Story knocked a base hit and scored a run in the sixth inning, then singled and scored again in the seventh. He later added a third late hit with a base knock in the ninth for his first three-hit game of the season. The 33-year-old shortstop is hitting .237/.269/.342 with three homers, 19 runs scored, 23 RBI, and four steals across 201 plate appearances.

It appears to just be a routine day off after playing four games in a row in his return from injury. Story is hitting .438 with 4 RBI since coming off the injured list.

That makes four consecutive multi-hit games since Anthony returned from the injured list on Sunday. His homer against Seattle was his first since coming back and his second for the year. Anthony is now 9-for-18 with four extra-base hits in that span. He’s hit leadoff in each of those games, a role he’ll likely carry through the rest of the season.

Story’s big double to bring the Red Sox within one run in the eighth was probably an out in 29 parks, but it made it off the Green Monster in Fenway. The game-ending single with the bases loaded was a product of better contact, traveling to the gap at 105.2 mph, and would have been a double normally. Story was largely unimpressive on his rehab assignment, but he’s managed two doubles and two singles in two games since returning.

The Red Sox’ lineup is getting serious reinforcements on Sunday with Story and Roman Anthony both returning from lengthy stints on the injured list. Story has been sidelined since undergoing surgery to repair a sports hernia in late May. Before he landed on the injured list, the 33-year-old shortstop was hitting .206/.244/.303 with three homers, 19 RBI and four stolen bases in 176 plate appearances.

After a lengthy stint on the injured list and a minor league rehab assignment, the 22-year-old outfielder is finally ready to rejoin the Red Sox lineup. Before landing on the injured list on May 4, Anthony was slashing .229/.354/.321 with just one homer, five RBI and a pair of stolen bases through his first 130 plate appearances on the season.

There was some social media chatter late Friday that Anthony and Trevor Story (abdomen) would potentially return for Saturday’s doubleheader against the Yankees. That isn’t happening. There’s a chance that the pair return for Sunday’s series finale in New York based on comments from interim manager Chad Tracy on Friday, but that decision won’t be made until after Saturday’s twin bill. There’s understandably plenty of excitement to see Anthony back in Boston’s lineup, but they obviously want to make sure he’s 100 percent ready before bringing him back, especially since he hasn’t played in the big leagues since May 4.

Both are slated to play in games for Triple-A Worcester on Saturday, so they won’t be back for Boston’s doubleheader against the Yankees. Anthony is 4-for-12 with a homer in three games for Worcester after going 3-for-14 with a homer in four games for Double-A Portland.

Some of the swings and misses we saw from Story last night were on pitches that were nowhere near the strike zone. Story claims that he hopes to return at some point this weekend against the Yankees, but he’s 4-for-28 in eight rehab games and has a 10/1 K/BB ratio over that span. The Red Sox could use his defense at shortstop with Andruw Monasterio struggling, but Story’s bat doesn’t seem ready.

Anthony had mentioned on Tuesday that the plan was for him to play nine innings in the outfield on Wednesday. If he can do that today, he could be active on Friday for the beginning of the series against the Yankees in New York. The former top prospect in baseball hasn’t played in an MLB game since May 4th and would be a major boost to this Red Sox lineup.