Garrett Crochet talks return to Chicago
Garrett Crochet is still new to all this sort of stuff.
Sure, he made the American League All-Star team last season while being identified as a legitimate top of the rotation starter for the first time in his career. There had also already been moments in his first three outings as a member of the Red Sox that offered the image of an ace. And, of course, there was that six-year, $170 million contract extension.
But there hadn’t an opportunity to meet a moment like Crochet was presented Sunday upon returning to his former home ballpark in Chicago. This was the latest test.
He passed … and then some.
Fifty-two times the lefty had pitched at Rate Field prior to the Red Sox’ 3-1 win over the White Sox, making 17 starts. There were some good ones last year, coming out of the gate in his first year as a starting pitcher with six-inning and seven-inning outings, respectively, giving up just one run in each.
But there was nothing like this.
Three days after going on the Baseball Isn’t Boring podcast to encapsulate his feelings regarding the return to the South Side Crochet let his actions paint the picture. It was a masterpiece. The Sox ace no-hit his former team all the way until Chase Meidroth – one of the players sent to Chicago in the offseason deal for Crochet – managed a one-out single in the eighth inning.
The outing marked the first time a Red Sox pitcher went as long as 7 1/3 innings since Eduardo Rodriguez saw his no-hitter broken up with two outs in the eighth inning in 2016.
The number of Red Sox no-hitters stay at 18, with Jon Lester’s gem in 2008 serving as the most recent no-no.
Any sort of outing that produced a victory for the Red Sox would have been notable considering the previous two games, which had resulted in demoralizing losses to the MLB’s longest-shot team, the White Sox. Crochet just decided to define the day in ace-like manner.
It was a mindset the pitcher hinted at when meeting with the media in Chicago Friday, saying, ““I’m chasing greatness every time I touch the mound.Everybody is. I want to throw a complete-game no-hitter. And then, as soon as the first hit’s given up, I’m like, ‘[Darn], all right. Let’s move on.’ But it’s just seeing how many zeros I can put up every time I go out there.”
Sure enough, he retired the first 15 batters before finally allowing his first baserunner when Brooks Baldwin led off the sixth inning with a walk. And while the drama buiit as Crochet continued to cruise through the first seven innings, so did Alex Cora’s anxiety.
Pitch count ultimately was going to be a problem.
But thanks to Meidroth, Cora’s concerns were halted, with the manager taking out immediately after throwing that final offering to the former Red Sox infielder, his 96th of the outing.
“Oh, there was a lot of debate,” Cora told reporters regarding the availability of Crochet, who had gone more than 100 pitches in each of his previous two starts. “You got to make decisions. It’s not easy, man. You’re in that dugout and you get a chance to do something special, but at the same time, you have to put in the balance of our season. Without him, it’s going to be hard, right? He threw 96 [pitches] and he got the ‘W,’ so we’re all happy now.”
The ace did his thing, as did Trevor Story – who accounted for all three Red Sox runs thanks to a two-run sixth-inning single and ninth-inning solo home run. All was right in the world again for the Red Sox.
It was a day Crochet made sure two fan bases would never forget.
“We needed it, in the worst way,” Story told reporters. “He stepped up and delivered for us. We needed a stopper, and that’s what he is.”
This post was originally published on this site be sure to check out more of their content.
