Garrett Crochet has done everything the Red Sox could have asked him to do this season. He misses bats. He racks up strikeouts. He gives the team a chance to win. He eats innings.
Crochet entered his start Sunday against the Atlanta Braves with Boston going just 6-6 through his first 12 starts. Unlike recent trends, the offense gave him an early boost in the first with a three-run double for Trevor Story in another positive sign. That’s all the Boston starter needed in a 3-1 victory for the Red Sox, who also won the series with the win.
“It’s amazing, man,” Trevor Story told NESN’s Jahmai Webster. “He sets the tone for us. As a ballclub, as a staff. He goes out there and lets it rip. Not much action (defensively), I told him that. That’s OK. He’s punching out 10+, it feels like every night and setting the tone for us. Every time he pitches, I love our chances to win.”
The Red Sox lefty found success in two starts against the Braves this season with 20 strikeouts in 14 innings and just three earned runs allowed (all solo home runs) against Braves.
Story continues below advertisement
Crochet stepped it up a notch with the Red Sox in desperate need of a better start to the month of June. He dominated Braves hitters with 23 swings-and-misses and struck out a season-best 12 men across seven innings and a career-high 112 pitches. Boston wanted to push him further in his second full season as a starter. So far, Crochet’s aced the test.
“I think it’s huge,” Crochet told reporters, per NESN’s postgame coverage. “You feel it when you’re out there on the mound. It’s not like I’m trying to achieve a certain number or anything like that, but you definitely feel it when you’re out there on the mound. I think that cutter usage has been in a good spot. Throwing that in fastball counts, but also throwing the fastball in fastball counts. Pitching backwards every now and then with it. It’s just been an overall great weapon for me.”
“He’s been doing this all season,” Alex Cora told reporters, as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage. “These are the outings, you look back at the Mets one, you’ve got to pick and choose. … There’s a reason for us to be aggressive. Understanding now, we’ve got Thursdays off. He’s going to get an extra day. We can be more aggressive. We pushed him to the limit and he did an outstanding job.”
Story continues below advertisement
Starts like these are exactly what Crochet brings to the table. If the Red Sox score runs for him, it’s their best chance to win every five days.
“It feels good,” Crochet said of the run support. “To give them one right back didn’t feel great. From first pitch on, I’m on go mode after that.”
“We joking great game-planning that we kicked the field goal and played good defense,” Cora said. “We need more. I know there were some at-bats in the middle of the game that we have to correct. We have to be better. I know we’re young, but we expect better from this group. The expectations are high in this group for the organization. We gotta put everything behind us. We have to be better than this. We scored three, which is awesome. After that, we didn’t do much.”
Here are more notes from Sunday’s Red Sox-Braves game:
Story continues below advertisement
— Boston earned its first series win since May 19-21 against the New York Mets.
— Story’s two extra-base hits this series matched the total extra-base hits he had in May prior to this series for the Red Sox.
— The Red Sox return home Monday to start a three-game series against the Los Angeles Angels at Fenway Park. First pitch is set for 7:10 p.m. ET. You can catch the game, plus an hour of pregame coverage, on NESN.
