Story rewrites record books with homer

CINCINNATI -- Rockies shortstop Trevor Story is like many rookies, with the exception of an amazing habit of blasting his way into the record books.
Story launched his eighth homer in just 13 Major League games -- something no player in the modern era (since 1900) had ever done -- to break an eighth-inning tie and power the Rockies to a 5-1 victory over the Reds at Great American Ball Park on Monday night.
Go ahead and nitpick about Story needing a day off because he has 23 strikeouts. Manager Walt Weiss can't hear it because of the loud contact. On Monday, it was a blistering double that glanced off the glove of center fielder Billy Hamilton and to the wall with Reds starter Dan Straily pitching, and the homer to deep center off Ross Ohlendorf in the eighth.
It's almost side-splitting that it was worth noting Story had gone 27 at-bats since his last homer -- eight days ago against the Padres.
"You think, for a day or so, you might want to give him a day off or something like that, and he goes out and has another big game," Weiss said. "He's really handled himself well."
Story, 23, hasn't been around long, but he knew what to expect.
"Ohlendorf throws hard, so I knew to be ready for a fastball, and I got one kind of over the plate," Story said.
By the way, Story is hitting .309 and confounding opponents.
Most teams had pitched Story away, noting that all but one of his previous homers had gone to right field. The issue, though, was when he did make solid contact, all but one of his hits have been going from the opposite gap in right-center to the right-field corner.
The Reds shifted their infield to the pull side and wound up with an out when second baseman Brandon Phillips pick up a hard-hit ball up the middle. But it would have taken a superhuman play by Hamilton to pull in the third-inning liner, and there is no defense for a ball that ends up on the berm behind the center-field wall.
Hitting this way, Story won't be the one to beg off.
"I don't really like days off," Story said. "We have a lot of players like that, who want to play every day. I guess that's going to be [Weiss'] decision if he wants to do that. I want to play every day."
And most every day Story has rewarded the Rockies with a homer.