'There's a reason he's here': Hamilton hits first homer in big win

ANAHEIM – The Red Sox are understandably concerned about the potential long-term loss of shortstop Trevor Story. David Hamilton did his part to help assuage their fears in his first game as Story’s replacement.

Hamilton hit the first home run of his Major League career in his first plate appearance of the season as the Red Sox closed out their season-opening road trip with an 12-2 rout of the Angels on Sunday at Angel Stadium.

Boston went 7-3 on their season-opening road trip. The club will now return to Fenway Park to face Baltimore in their home opener on Tuesday.

“It’s what I want to do,” Hamilton said. “I want to help the team win. I want this team to go to the postseason and the World series, and hopefully I can be a part of that.”

Hamilton was recalled from Triple-A Worcester on Saturday after Story was placed on the injured list with a dislocated left shoulder. The 26-year-old rookie made his first start of the season on Sunday and got off to an inauspicious start, booting a 112.8 mph ground ball from Miguel Sanó on his first defensive chance in the second inning (the play was ruled a hit). He recovered to start a double play on the very next batter and followed with a nice sliding stop up the middle to end the frame.

“I mean, the first play, that was a tough one. ... That was a missile by Sano,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “But then he makes a double play, then he makes a play to his left, and everybody was able to breathe.

“There's a reason he's here. He's left-handed and he's a good defender.”

Minutes later in the top of the third, Hamilton hammered a 94 mph fastball above the zone from Chase Silseth over the right-center-field wall for his first career home run, giving the Red Sox a 1-0 lead. He later ripped a hard single in the sixth, finishing with his first career two-hit game as well.

“It was a good feeling, for sure,” said Hamilton, who received the home run ball and had it encased in his locker after the game. “Definitely not trying to do that, but ran into one and it got out luckily.”

Rafael Devers, Tyler O’Neill and Reese McGuire also homered for the Red Sox. Devers and O’Neill joined Hamilton with solo shots in the third inning off Silseth, marking the second time in the last three days that Boston has homered three times in a single frame. On Friday, O’Neill, McGuire and Triston Casas all homered in the second inning off Angels right-hander Griffin Canning.

McGuire blew the game open with a three-run homer off José Suarez in the sixth that extended the Red Sox’s lead to 7-0. They piled on from there, including scoring four runs in the ninth inning to push their lead to double-digits, eventually pushing Angels manager Ron Washington to call upon designated hitter Sanó to pitch.

The offensive outburst gave Tanner Houck more than enough run support to work with. The 27-year-old right-hander held down the Angels for six shutout innings with seven strikeouts, his second straight scoreless start to open the year.

“Pitching with a lead always helps,” Houck said. “To have the three-run lead going into that inning was great. Luckily I was able to stop some damage from happening. But with that being said, always pitching with lead is great.”

Houck has pitched 12 shutout innings with 17 strikeouts to two walks to begin the season. Overall, the Red Sox lead the Majors with a 1.49 ERA, the lowest mark through 10 games in franchise history.

“[It’s] phenomenal,” Houck said. “It's something that you don't want to lean your hat on too much. Obviously a great start to the season, but also knowing that we still have 150 games to go. So with that being said, just go out there and continue to work each and every day and keep getting better.”