One day after announcing his desire to pitch for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic, Garrett Crochet showed why he should be added to the roster.
On a warm Saturday afternoon, the Boston Red Sox starter fired his first career complete game. He did it in shutout fashion as the Red Sox beat the Tampa Bay Rays, 1-0. The lefty allowed three hits, all singles.
While hitters haven’t found much success against Crochet in total, righties have had an easier time than lefties. The Rays submitted a lineup of entirely right-handed hitters. It didn’t matter. Crochet was up to the task.
He pounded the strike zone for nine innings, throwing 73 percent strikes. His four-seam fastball command was off early, so he turned to his other pitches to get ahead of hitters.
His cutter lived on the inside part of the plate, while he threw his sinker down and away for called strikes. His sweeper returned four whiffs, his four-seam punched out six hitters. He even pulled the string by throwing four changeups, two of which resulted in swings and misses.
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After the game, in two interviews, Crochet shied away from the credit, instead heaping praise on his teammates.
“The defense played a great game. [Carlos Narvaez] was pushing great buttons all game,” Crochet said after a water-cooler shower from two of his teammates.
Crochet isn’t wrong to commend his teammates, even if he was the driving force in the victory. The defense was a key part of keeping the shutout intact. In the sixth inning with a runner on third, Ha-Seong Kim laid down a bunt with a runner on third. First baseman Abraham Toro charged the ball, fielded it with his bare hand, and made an acrobatic throw to nab the runner heading home.
Later in the interview, NESN sideline reporter Jahmai Webster asked Crochet about how he felt about his first half, and he again turned the credit to his teammates.
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“It’s going about as well as I could have hoped. Narvaez and Connor [Wong] have been huge. [Andrew Bailey] and [Chris Holt] have been huge, really. Just trusting my teammates and letting the results dictate themselves,” Crochet said.
While Crochet might want to deflect the credit and commend his teammates, the fans know Crochet has been an anchor for the pitching staff. The Fenway Park crowd let out a roar when he emerged from the dugout in the bottom of the ninth, and were on their feet for the entire ninth inning.
Crochet is scheduled to pitch the third game after the All-Star break against the Chicago Cubs.
